Story: Boahene Asamoah
NEGOTIATIONS are going on between Ghana and some multinational companies towards the establishment of cocoa processing plants in the country, a senior official of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has revealed.
The companies include ADM, ED & F Max, Schokinag, Cargill and Gerkin.
In an interview, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Kwame Sarpong, said “discussions with these multinationals are on-going”.
He was optimistic that within 18 to 24 months, the country would see some investments in the cocoa processing sector.
Mr Sarpong was speaking immediately after the opening session of the 68th meeting of the Cocoa Producers Alliance (COPAL) in Accra yesterday.
He said it was the policy of the government to process 40 per cent of all cocoa produced in the country to generate additional income and employment for the country.
Mr Sarpong stated that the long-term objective of the negotiations was to establish firms which in the long run, would produce finished cocoa products for both local and external consumption.
Such companies, he said, would in the short term, however, process semi-finished goods for export.
He said the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebeaut were both undertaking expansion programmes which were all geared towards the processing of cocoa products.
On the COPAL’s move towards the promotion of cocoa consumption, he said the association had established local promotion committees within member countries aimed at promoting the local consumption of cocoa and said the health benefits of cocoa products were very encouraging.
The 10 members of COPAL include Brazil, Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.
These countries together account for 75 per cent of the total world cocoa production.
COPAL’s objectives include exchanging technical and scientific information, discussing problems of mutual interest, advancing social and economic relations among producers, ensuring adequate supplies to market at remunerative prices and promoting consumption of cocoa products with the view to expanding the markets of cocoa products.
The Secretary General of COPAL, Mr Hope Sona Ebai, said the association was involved in generic promotion to ensure the sustainable consumption of the cocoa products.
That, he said, was to ensure that the consumption of cocoa was matched with its production in order to avoid higher production and less consumption which could lead to low prices for cocoa on the international market.
He said the five-day meeting would set new objectives for the 2005-2006 cocoa season.
The highlights of the meeting will be the election of a new chairman and the ministerial council meeting.
About three million metric tonnes of cocoa beans are produced in the world each year, approximatetly two-thirds of these beans come from from West African countries, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun.
Nearly 45 per cent of cocoa beans produced annually are used in Europe.
In 2003, 2.5 million metric tonnes of chocolate confectionery was manufactured in Europe, representing about 50 per cent of global production.
Chocolate production in Europe uses more than 250,000 metric tonnes of both milk powder and liquid milk each year.
The value of all confectionery goods produced in Europe, including all types of chocolate , biscuits and sugar confectionery, exceeds four billion euros per annum.
There are nearly 2,000 companies active in the European confectionery industry, employing more than 270,000 people.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Ghana negotiates with foreign firms to process more cocoa
Story: Boahene Asamoah
NEGOTIATIONS are going on between Ghana and some multinational companies towards the establishment of cocoa processing plants in the country, a senior official of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has revealed.
The companies include ADM, ED & F Max, Schokinag, Cargill and Gerkin.
In an interview, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Kwame Sarpong, said “discussions with these multinationals are on-going”.
He was optimistic that within 18 to 24 months, the country would see some investments in the cocoa processing sector.
Mr Sarpong was speaking immediately after the opening session of the 68th meeting of the Cocoa Producers Alliance (COPAL) in Accra yesterday.
He said it was the policy of the government to process 40 per cent of all cocoa produced in the country to generate additional income and employment for the country.
Mr Sarpong stated that the long-term objective of the negotiations was to establish firms which in the long run, would produce finished cocoa products for both local and external consumption.
Such companies, he said, would in the short term, however, process semi-finished goods for export.
He said the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebeaut were both undertaking expansion programmes which were all geared towards the processing of cocoa products.
On the COPAL’s move towards the promotion of cocoa consumption, he said the association had established local promotion committees within member countries aimed at promoting the local consumption of cocoa and said the health benefits of cocoa products were very encouraging.
The 10 members of COPAL include Brazil, Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.
These countries together account for 75 per cent of the total world cocoa production.
COPAL’s objectives include exchanging technical and scientific information, discussing problems of mutual interest, advancing social and economic relations among producers, ensuring adequate supplies to market at remunerative prices and promoting consumption of cocoa products with the view to expanding the markets of cocoa products.
The Secretary General of COPAL, Mr Hope Sona Ebai, said the association was involved in generic promotion to ensure the sustainable consumption of the cocoa products.
That, he said, was to ensure that the consumption of cocoa was matched with its production in order to avoid higher production and less consumption which could lead to low prices for cocoa on the international market.
He said the five-day meeting would set new objectives for the 2005-2006 cocoa season.
The highlights of the meeting will be the election of a new chairman and the ministerial council meeting.
About three million metric tonnes of cocoa beans are produced in the world each year, approximatetly two-thirds of these beans come from from West African countries, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun.
Nearly 45 per cent of cocoa beans produced annually are used in Europe.
In 2003, 2.5 million metric tonnes of chocolate confectionery was manufactured in Europe, representing about 50 per cent of global production.
Chocolate production in Europe uses more than 250,000 metric tonnes of both milk powder and liquid milk each year.
The value of all confectionery goods produced in Europe, including all types of chocolate , biscuits and sugar confectionery, exceeds four billion euros per annum.
There are nearly 2,000 companies active in the European confectionery industry, employing more than 270,000 people.
NEGOTIATIONS are going on between Ghana and some multinational companies towards the establishment of cocoa processing plants in the country, a senior official of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has revealed.
The companies include ADM, ED & F Max, Schokinag, Cargill and Gerkin.
In an interview, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Kwame Sarpong, said “discussions with these multinationals are on-going”.
He was optimistic that within 18 to 24 months, the country would see some investments in the cocoa processing sector.
Mr Sarpong was speaking immediately after the opening session of the 68th meeting of the Cocoa Producers Alliance (COPAL) in Accra yesterday.
He said it was the policy of the government to process 40 per cent of all cocoa produced in the country to generate additional income and employment for the country.
Mr Sarpong stated that the long-term objective of the negotiations was to establish firms which in the long run, would produce finished cocoa products for both local and external consumption.
Such companies, he said, would in the short term, however, process semi-finished goods for export.
He said the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and Barry Callebeaut were both undertaking expansion programmes which were all geared towards the processing of cocoa products.
On the COPAL’s move towards the promotion of cocoa consumption, he said the association had established local promotion committees within member countries aimed at promoting the local consumption of cocoa and said the health benefits of cocoa products were very encouraging.
The 10 members of COPAL include Brazil, Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.
These countries together account for 75 per cent of the total world cocoa production.
COPAL’s objectives include exchanging technical and scientific information, discussing problems of mutual interest, advancing social and economic relations among producers, ensuring adequate supplies to market at remunerative prices and promoting consumption of cocoa products with the view to expanding the markets of cocoa products.
The Secretary General of COPAL, Mr Hope Sona Ebai, said the association was involved in generic promotion to ensure the sustainable consumption of the cocoa products.
That, he said, was to ensure that the consumption of cocoa was matched with its production in order to avoid higher production and less consumption which could lead to low prices for cocoa on the international market.
He said the five-day meeting would set new objectives for the 2005-2006 cocoa season.
The highlights of the meeting will be the election of a new chairman and the ministerial council meeting.
About three million metric tonnes of cocoa beans are produced in the world each year, approximatetly two-thirds of these beans come from from West African countries, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun.
Nearly 45 per cent of cocoa beans produced annually are used in Europe.
In 2003, 2.5 million metric tonnes of chocolate confectionery was manufactured in Europe, representing about 50 per cent of global production.
Chocolate production in Europe uses more than 250,000 metric tonnes of both milk powder and liquid milk each year.
The value of all confectionery goods produced in Europe, including all types of chocolate , biscuits and sugar confectionery, exceeds four billion euros per annum.
There are nearly 2,000 companies active in the European confectionery industry, employing more than 270,000 people.
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