A popular adage in Ghana in the 1970s was ‘Soap politics is one thing, but beer politics is another’. Although soap was given secondary status to beer, it was desperately in short supply at the time and long queues quickly formed if any appeared on the market. One of the first groups of customers who called the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Technology Consulting Center (TCC), Kumasi, after it opened in January 1972, asked to be instructed in soap making and receive help to establish a small-scale soap plant. This project was assigned to Peter Donkor when he joined TCC in 1973. He could hardly have imagined at the time that his duties would take him all over Africa and even take him to advise a multinational soap manufacturer.
In response to a request from its clients, the TCC created a committee of experts to examine the problem and draw up plans for a pilot soap plant. In the meantime, the TCC set up a small soap plant in its campus shop and began training prospective soapmakers. The initial plant used electric heating and the product was laundry soap in 40 cm long bars, similar to the popular ‘key soap’ produced by Lever Brothers Ghana Ltd. Early results were mixed, sometimes good, sometimes poor. . It was Peter Donkor’s first task to analyze the process and reduce variability.
After some advice from an Indian expert, electric heating was abandoned and a new wood-fired boiling tank was introduced. A truly appropriate technology for small-scale soap making rapidly evolved and some private plants began production. These were highly successful and the demand for training and the supply of soap-boiling tanks soon threatened to overwhelm the TCC’s limited capacity. However, in 1975, the university opened its pilot soap plant in the village of Kwamo, 8 km from the campus on Accra Road. This allowed for an expansion of both soap production and training opportunities. Most of the soap produced at Kwamo was sold on campus to university staff, students and employees, but much also found its way to local markets, including Kejetia in Kumasi, said to be the largest market in West Africa.
Over the next few years, Peter Donkor oversees the establishment of more than 50 small-scale soap plants spread across the southern half of Ghana. He was also asked to train soap makers and set up plants in Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Mali, and Malawi. However, Peter’s main concern was to improve the raw material supply situation, without which there could never be enough locally produced soap to meet national demand.
The main raw material used for soap making in Ghana is palm oil. This was always rare. Some improvements were achieved when the TCC introduced a locally manufactured extraction plant that enabled many small farmers to earn more income by converting their palm fruits into oil. Some farmers also became soap makers; further extending the value added chain. Others contracted with a local soap producer to meet their raw material needs. Peter Donkor searched for alternative raw materials for soap making and experimented with neem, alkali walnut, peanut, coconut and castor oils, as well as second grade shea butter and cocoa butter, in various mixes and combinations.
The manufacture of soap requires caustic soda, also imported and therefore also scarce. Peter Donkor worked with KNUST chemists to produce a caustic soda production plant from slaked lime residue from an acetylene plant and imported soda ash. This cut the cost of foreign exchange in half and became popular with small-scale soapmakers. In the late 1970s, the Plant Construction Unit on the TCC campus produced and sold many palm oil, caustic soda, and soap plants before the private sector took over manufacturing of these plants.
A third important ingredient in soap is perfume. In the 1970s this was also imported and so difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity. Using a small steam distillation plant based on a design from Guatemala, Peter experimented with locally grown lemongrass and citronella. The results were good but again the raw materials were not grown in sufficient quantity to meet the need. Here the matter remained until the power of large companies came to give it a big push.
One day, to his surprise, the director of TCC received a visit from the CEO of Lever Brothers Ghana Ltd. The MD explained that he had been given a mandate by the head office in the UK to base his production as much as possible on locally produced raw materials, and wanted to know what the TCC had to offer. Then Peter Donkor was invited to tell the story of neem and castor oil, of caustic soda and lemongrass, and the great man set off to tell his colleagues at Tema. It wasn’t long before he returned with another request. It seemed that everything depended on the smell: good and bad.
Lever Brothers used neem oil to successfully produce soap in India. In Ghana, neem trees grow in all parts of the country and the oil could be produced on an industrial scale, but marketing trials failed because the smell of garlic was unacceptable and could not be removed or hidden. However, Lever Brothers liked the idea of producing citronella and lemongrass perfume in Ghana. They asked if they could borrow TCC’s steam distillation plant to run tests on thirteen grasses that could be grown locally. This was agreed on the condition that Peter Donkor was fully involved in the trials and had access to all results.
When testing was complete, Lever Brothers established a program to help local farmers grow approved grass varieties and imported some industrial steam distillation plants. TCC’s engineering clients also began producing copies of the Guatemalan plant and a small-scale industry emerged with a ready market for its product in the large soap manufacturer. The TCC did not usually get involved with large companies, but in this case the result was very satisfactory. Peter Donkor had helped to establish a link between the big and the small, which was a great advantage for both.
