Adnan Adams Mohammed
The government of Ghana has projected cocoa exports to double in a period of three years against the 2022 figures.
Government’s spokesperson expects that, export of cocoa beans will rake in US$4.1 billion in 2025.
Official figures projects an upward trend in revenue from cocoa production since 2019, hence the optimism that the industry would grow some more. Total exports from cocoa stood at US$2.21 billion in 2022, a decline from the $2.83 billion recorded in 2021.
“It is estimated that the contribution of cocoa to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will rise to about $4.1 billion by 2025”, Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has disclosed when he spoke at the launch of the 2023 National Chocolate Week. “On the average we’re producing about 700,000 metric tonnes of cocoa per year since 2012.”
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah further indicated that revenue garnered from the cocoa sector plays a critical role in the economy by stabilising the cedi.
“Cocoa is the third largest foreign earner for the country after gold and crude oil; and revenues from the industry have been on the upward trajectory since 2019. Specifically in 2019, we earned about $2.2 billion, $2.3 billion in 2020, $2.8 billion in 2021 and we’re hoping to grow some more. The cocoa industry is playing a significant role in stabilising the local currency among many other things.”
The National Chocolate Day Celebration was instituted in 2005 to coincide with Valentine’s Day which falls on February 14 every year to boost the domestic consumption of Ghana’s chocolate and other cocoa-based products, promote domestic tourism and give a healthy orientation to the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Chocolate Day celebration was extended into a full week celebration dubbed Chocolate Week in 2022.
Present at the launch, Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Emmanuel Ray Ankrah, called for a holistic approach to scrap the 35 % tax on cocoa processing companies.
According to him, this is a disincentive to startups.
“We have realised that some current tax regimes are affecting efforts to get more entrepreneurs into cocoa processing and value addition, especially those who are into small-scale cocoa processing. In order to overcome this challenge, we have initiated discussions at Ghana Cocoa Board with relevant state agencies to review and take a holistic approach to the tax regime that affects artisanal chocolate processors.”
“This is the view of reducing the impact of tax on businesses as a way of cushioning them and make them more competitive,” he intimated.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has pledged its continuous support to the National Chocolate Week celebration.
Deputy Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku Mantey said, “We have managed to establish a high degree association between tourism and cocoa based products, one of which is chocolate and positioned it as a veritable component of the Ghana tourism experience. The socio-economic benefits of the increased local consumption of chocolates are many and the Ministry of Tourism will continue to actively support the National Chocolate Week celebration”.
This year’s National Chocolate Week celebration is themed, ‘Eat cocoa, Stay healthy and Grow Ghana’.
