Mr. Samuel Dentu, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Export Promotion Authority, has reiterated the authority’s resolve, to continue to develop the skills of Ghanaian chocolatiers, to ensure they generate acceptable products that can be found on store shelves anywhere in the world, particularly in the UK, Europe, America, and the African continent.
He made this statement to the media during a branding and marketing capacity-building workshop for MSMEs held at the Africa Trade House in Accra on November 16, 2022.
The training was part of the United Kingdom Trade Partnership Project funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and implemented by the International Trade Centre under the Alliances for Action (A4A) initiative in 7 countries; Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea, Comoros in Africa and 2 countries in the ACP countries of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean.
The UKTP program supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by helping to reduce poverty (SDG 1), promoting economic growth and decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) and building resilient infrastructure, promoting sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation among MSMEs (SDG 9). It also prioritizes gender equality and strategic partnerships as part of its SDGs 5 and 17 outcomes.
One of the key objectives of the UKTP initiative is to support the Government of Ghana’s national strategy aimed at increasing locally-processed cocoa from 40% to 50%.
In Ghana, the UKTP programme focuses on building trade alliances with relevant public and private sector trade support institutions and MSMEs to increase the export of cocoa derivatives in terms of quantity, value, and semifinished products.
The objective of the capacity-building program, which took place on October 21, 2022, November 16, 2022, and November 21, 2022, was to equip local chocolatiers to develop their brands to satisfy both the domestic and foreign markets.