CPC eyes expansion into West Africa subregion

Management of the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) has said the company has acquired the necessary certification to enable it to enter other markets in the sub region.

Instructively, CPC has noted that the recent access and receipt of a US$70 million Afreximbank financial support, would increase the company’s output of the current 64,500 tonnes to 81,000-tonne capacity, with the confectionary side of 3000 capacity projected to increase to 15,000 tonnes capacity.

The loan facility, according to CPC, has gone through due diligence and undergoing the legal processes for it to be cleared for disbursement.

The money according to CPC’s Managing Director, Nana Agyenim Boateng, would be used to retool the company through the purchase of modern machinery and equipment to augment production.

Meanwhile, the company maintained that its value addition drive and the introduction of new products is in line with the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda and the preparation to capture the continent’s chocolate market when the African Continental Free Trade Agreement begins by mid-year.

As part of an all-inclusive programme, the CPC has employed about forty Senior High School students for its cocoa processing entrepreneurship programme which has also augmented revenue for the company.

CPC averagely spends about US$6.8 million a year on electricity, fuel and gas but the company has begun plans to venture into a biomass project where it will use cocoa pods husk and shells to generate power and steam.

Upon completion of this new project in the next five years, CPC will be paying US$2.5 million annually for power against the initial US$6.8 million a year.