Fiifi Boafo, the Head of Public Affairs at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has dismissed allegations that Ghana has ceased cocoa production.
This statement comes in the wake of the approval for the importation of 2,500 tonnes of cocoa beans from Côte d’Ivoire and 1,000 tonnes from Nigeria.
The approval was contained in a letter signed by Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD. The letter, dated January 25, 2024, was addressed to Afrotropic Cocoa Processing Company Limited and sighted by citinewsroom.com.
The letter confirmed the approval of Afrotropic Cocoa Processing Company’s request to import cocoa beans from the two neighbouring countries. The company is required to provide detailed information, including the name of the vessel, shipment schedule, quantity of beans to be imported, and the date/time of arrival.
In response to queries about the absence of cocoa in the country, Mr. Boafo clarified in an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News.
He stated that while Ghana does produce cocoa, companies occasionally receive approval to import cocoa beans from other countries.
This practice allows them to blend the imported beans with local ones to achieve their desired recipe and manage costs.
“That is not the case. What it is, is that there are a number of cocoa processing factories that are set up within the free zones enclave in Ghana who process cocoa, and these companies sometimes require permission from COCOBOD to import cocoa and blend it with the Ghanaian cocoa beans for export. So it is not a case that there is no cocoa in Ghana; it is a case of the company blending the cocoa they import from outside to get the required recipes of these companies and to manage costs.”
“I say manage cost because Ghana produces the best cocoa in the world, and it is a premium cocoa. Some of these countries produce cocoa which is not at the same quality as that of Ghana, so what happens is that it is less premium and you are to procure it at a lesser cost. So when you have Ghana cocoa which is of high quality, you blend it.”
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