Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has called on international cocoa buyers to establish processing operations in Ghana, as the government moves to increase local cocoa processing to 50 per cent by 2028 and achieve full local processing by 2030.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday following the presentation of the 2027 Budget to Parliament, Dr Forson said Ghana must move away from its longstanding practice of exporting raw cocoa beans for processing abroad and instead retain more economic value through domestic manufacturing.
“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 stated.
The minister explained that Ghana’s traditional cocoa financing model had largely supported the purchase and export of raw beans, allowing foreign economies to benefit from the higher value generated through processing.
He said a recent visit to Bangkok for the World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings further highlighted the economic opportunities available through cocoa value addition, particularly after observing the range of products developed from cocoa, including chocolate and cocoa cognac.
Dr Forson disclosed that provisions in the proposed new Cocoa Board Act would make local processing mandatory, with the legislation already submitted to Parliament.
He added that a Legislative Instrument (LI) would establish the implementation framework and timeline for achieving the government’s target of moving from 50 per cent local processing to 100 per cent by 2030.
On efforts to expand Ghana’s processing capacity, the minister revealed ongoing discussions concerning a proposed arrangement involving 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for local value addition. He identified Dangote as an interested investor, noting that the company had approached Ghana with plans to use the country as a regional cocoa-processing hub.
“Dangote has reached out to use Ghana as a hub to process cocoa locally,” he said, adding that the proposed arrangement was still under review.
Beyond cocoa, Dr Forson linked the government’s value-addition agenda to broader efforts to modernise agriculture, strengthen domestic production and reduce Ghana’s dependence on imported food.
He argued that the country possesses sufficient land, water resources and a youthful population to support a more productive agricultural sector, insisting that the existing smallholder-based approach would not adequately address the country’s economic challenges.
“The current agriculture, peasant agriculture, cannot solve the problems,” he stated.
The minister further disclosed that Ghana spends approximately US$3.5 billion annually on food imports, including palm oil, sugar, rice, chicken and vegetables, describing the situation as unsustainable.
He questioned why the country continued to import commodities that could be produced locally and called for greater investment in commercial agriculture, particularly soybean and maize cultivation to support the domestic poultry industry.
According to Dr Forson, expanding commercial farming and local processing would help reduce import dependence, create economic opportunities and ensure that a greater share of the value generated from Ghana’s agricultural resources remains within the country.
