Ghana has signed an MoU that will see the establishment of a cocoa-processing facility.
Through a public-private partnership, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is collaborating with Chinese group Genertec to build the factory in the country’s Sefwi-Wiawso region, enabling the West African nation to process at least 50% of its cocoa beans locally, as reported by B&FT Online.
‘Ghana is the second-largest cocoa producer in the world, accounting for 20% of the world’s total cocoa production,’ says COCOBOD chief executive Joseph Aidoo. It is expected that the project will help drive local consumption and increase the nation’s share of the US$100 billion global cocoa industry.
Furthermore, says, Aidoo, ‘it will add value to the cocoa beans that are produced in Ghana; and, most importantly, ensure that the waste shells of exported cocoa beans – which amounts to 20% of the total volume – can be converted into organic fertiliser here in Ghana’.
According to a Construction Review Online report, the project is earmarked to start in early 2020 and will cost an estimated US$100 million.
