GEPA seeks to increase market share of Ghana’s cocoa powder

As demand for global cocoa products surges, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has identified potential new markets for Ghana’s sweetened cocoa powder industry based on their respective annual import values of above US$3 million.

The new markets identified with positive annual growth rates and population dynamics include Malaysia, Kenya, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China with import values of US$3,240,000; US$3,251,000; US$6,908,000 and US$8,457,000 respectively.

However Ghana’s market share in each of the identified countries remains zero percent.

“Given the positive demand growth in China and the population dynamics, serious attention must be given to the Chinese Market”, a Competitor Analysis report released by the Authority states.

Last year during the third China International Tea Expo in Hangzhou, China, there was a rush for Ghana’s cocoa beverages and chocolate as large numbers of visitors, mostly Chinese, besieged Ghana’s stand to sample cocoa products.

The Authority is also advising industry exporters to Increase their market penetration drive in Nigeria to increase market share.

Instructively the Nigeria market has consistently absorbed over 90 percent total exports of Ghana’s sweetened cocoa powder as the country’s import value of the product from Ghana was estimated to be US$7.1 million in 2018.

That same year, total export of the product from Ghana doubled to US$7.2 million from the previous year’s export value of US$3.1 million.

The huge surge was largely instigated by the zero tariff applied on Ghanaian cocoa powder in 2018 in the Nigerian market.

GEPA insists that it is imperative for exporters in the industry to take advantage of the favourable zero tariff applied to products that have met the ECOWAS rules of origin and are under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) protocol instituted to encourage entrepreneurial development in the region and increase intra-regional trade.

The Authority further asserts that with the operationalisation of the Pan-African trade agreement – Africa Continental Free Trade Area – African countries should be targeted for intense market access.

Currently, demand for global cocoa powder hovers around US$500 billion with Ghana ranked the 11th largest global exporter of the product

The global market for cocoa powder is expected to witness a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of nearly 2.2 percent in terms of volume till 2026. The market demand is projected to surpass 1,315 000 tonnes by the end of 2026.