Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has urged international cocoa buyers to process their beans in Ghana, as the government moves to increase local cocoa processing to 50 per cent by 2028 and 100 per cent by 2030.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday after presenting the 2027 Budget to Parliament, Dr Forson said Ghana must move away from exporting raw cocoa beans for other countries to process and instead retain more value within the local economy.
“We are not saying don’t come and buy our cocoa beans, but if you are a company out there, come and buy our cocoa beans, but add value here in Ghana,” he said.
The minister explained that Ghana’s longstanding cocoa financing model had largely encouraged the purchase and export of raw beans, allowing other countries to benefit from the processing and manufacturing stages.
He said his recent visit to Bangkok for the World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings further strengthened his belief in the economic opportunities available through cocoa value addition.
Dr Forson expressed surprise at the range of cocoa-based products being produced in Thailand, including chocolate and cocoa cognac.
On whether the government would introduce legislation to enforce local processing, he disclosed that the proposed new Cocoa Board Act already contained a provision requiring a significant portion of Ghana’s cocoa to be processed locally.
“It’s mandatory. Cocoa Board has to produce 50% of its cocoa locally, processing locally,” he stated.
He added that a Legislative Instrument would provide the implementation timetable, with the target of moving from 50 per cent local processing to full processing by 2030.
Addressing concerns about Ghana’s processing capacity, Dr Forson revealed that discussions were ongoing over a proposed arrangement involving 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for local value addition.
He identified Dangote as an interested investor, disclosing that the company had approached Ghana with plans to use the country as a cocoa-processing hub.
“Dangote has reached out to use Ghana as a hub to process cocoa locally,” he said.
The cocoa-processing agenda, according to the minister, forms part of the government’s broader plan to modernise agriculture, strengthen domestic production and reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported food.
Dr Forson argued that Ghana had the necessary land, water resources and youthful population to develop a stronger agricultural sector but stressed that traditional small-scale farming alone could not address the country’s challenges.
“The current agriculture, peasant agriculture, cannot solve the problems,” he said.
He disclosed that Ghana spends approximately US$3.5 billion annually importing food products, including palm oil, sugar, rice, chicken and vegetables.
“We spend about 3.5 billion United States dollars yearly to bring foodstuffs into our country. It cannot continue,” he added.
The Finance Minister also questioned why more agricultural land could not be dedicated to cultivating soybean and maize to support the country’s poultry industry.
He maintained that increased investment in commercial agriculture and local processing would help Ghana maximise its natural resources, create economic opportunities and retain more value from its agricultural products.
