Ghana has signed a $600 million deal with Credit Suisse for the improvement of current state of processing and value addition for its cocoa.
The deal was signed on the sideline of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum in South Africa.
The $600 million will cover a 7 year period and would go into helping to upskill farmers, develop warehousing, and upscale in-country processing of Cocoa.
This deal was tabled last year for Ghana’s cocoa regulator COCOBOD but has now reached financial close stage.
Ghana is only able to process 34 percent of the commodity from its raw form into other products.
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Ghana and Credit Suisse sign landmark coacoa to chocolate deal – 600million dollars over 7years – to upskill farmers and develop warehousing, upscale in-country processing pic.twitter.com/eFw2n76PnS— Nthakoana Ngatane (@nthakoana) November 12, 2019
New initiatives
This year the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Cocobod Joseph Boahen Aidoo told Africafeeds.com that various initiatives being rolled out by his outfit may have contributed to current successes.
“Cocoa Processing Company is helping to promote the manufacturing of handmade chocolates in the country” he told Africafeeds.com.
“We are also encouraging the youth to venture into manufacturing of hand made chocolates in the country coupled with the revamping and supply of adequate beans to processing companies” he revealed.
Ghana’s government is projecting to have about 50 percent of its cocoa processed into refined products such as Chocolate and Cocoa beverages.
The West African country is currently the second largest producer of cocoa in the world.
But has since independence failed to capitalize on processing majority of the cocoa it exports thereby earning less from the commodity.
Africa Investment forum
The 2019 Africa Investment forum seems to have built on its 2018 successes, attracts growing international interest.
According to the African Development Bank, the value of boardroom transactions which will be negotiated this year will be considerably higher compared to $43bn in 2018.
The bank’s President Akinwuni Adesina said “It is a new, more confident Africa. A continent now aware of its place in the world and determined to be a global investment haven. And Africa is harnessing investors’ interests and investments. Welcome to the Africa Investment Forum, the place to be for investors.”
Source: Africafeeds.com
