Ghana, Ivory Coast ‘hurting’ their economy through excess cocoa production – Osafo Maafo

Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, has argued that the excess production of cocoa by Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire is causing harm to the economies of both countries.

According to him, the urge to release cocoa beans by both countries on the international market within the shortest possible time affects the prices of the beans, which has a negative impact on the economies of the two countries.

“It is very difficult because of the economy. We need the money so we are always in a hurry to put the beans on the market but sometimes we do so hurting ourselves. When cocoa production goes up, the price falls. But you need to also improve the production. So it is now up to us to strategize the release of these commodities on the market”, the Senior Minister advised.

Addressing the media at a cocoa investors’ forum on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, Osafo Maafo proposed that the two countries, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, should come up with strategic ways of monopolizing trading activities involving cocoa.

“When you have too much of the product on the market, the price falls. When there is a dream of scarcity, when people think that there is going to be a shortage, the price goes up. So between us and La Cote d’Ivoire, we should strategize such that even the flow on the market is somehow controlled by us in a way”, he posited.

The cocoa investors’ forum, organized by the African Development Bank (ADB) sought to engage experts in the cocoa industry on how to find possible solutions to the challenges facing the cocoa sectors in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.