COVAAAGH President, George Adjei Bekoe
The Cocoa Value Addition Artisans Association of Ghana (COVAAAGH) has lauded the government for its upcoming visionary and transformative policy initiative aimed at providing cocoa beans to indigenous cocoa value addition and chocolate manufacturing enterprises.
Under the said policy, the government aims to facilitate the direct supply of premium Ghana cocoa beans to indigenous small-scale cocoa processing and manufacturing enterprises, while empowering them to produce high-quality cocoa-based products for the domestic and export markets.
In a statement issued by the Association and sighted by GhanaWeb Business, it said the move will not only bolster the domestic cocoa value chain, but also promote economic growth, job creation, while increasing Ghana’s share of the global cocoa and chocolate industry valued at $130 billion.
“COVAAAGH believes the Cocoa Marketing Company’s current 50-metric tonnes minimum threshold for the purchase of cocoa beans remains prohibitive to Ghana’s burgeoning artisanal cocoa value addition industry,” the statement signed by its President, George Adjei Bekoe, read.
It added that, “In light of the current lack of direct access to cocoa beans, our local small scale manufacturing enterprises are forced to source semi-finished raw material from the Free Zones cocoa processing companies at exorbitant prices which include import duty, levies and taxes amounting to over 59%.”
The Association further called on the government to expedite the implementation of this strategic move to harness the many potential impacts it portends for the Ghanaian economy, while urging the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to remain poised for the implementation of this policy.
MA
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