Position Ghana as a Global Chocolate Hub, MP for Manso Nkwanta Urges Govt
The Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region, Hon Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo, has called on the government through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts to collaborate with the Ministry of Trade, Agricbusiness and Industry to as a matter of policy position Ghana as a global chocolate hub to attract tourists worldwide, particularly on Valentine’s Day.
According to Mr. Fokuo, just as the Ministry of Tourism successfully marketed Ghana as a Christmas destination, the country should explore ways of branding itself as the premier destination for speciality chocolate.
Ghana is currently the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa, after Côte d’Ivoire. However, much of the cocoa produced is exported in its raw state without adding value.
Mr. Fokuo believes the country could leverage its dominance in cocoa production by shifting from exporting raw cocoa beans to adding value through chocolate production. This would promote Ghana’s premium, sustainably sourced, and ethically produced cocoa.
The Manso Nkwanta MP made this call during his contribution to a statement by the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, on the 2025 edition of National Chocolate Day, which was celebrated on February 14.
Mr. Fokuo emphasized the importance of investing in local chocolate manufacturing facilities, both by local entrepreneurs and international investors, through partnerships with licensed cocoa buying companies to realize the vision.
He is confident that Ghana could create a unique identity by incorporating local flavors and using attractive packaging designs that showcase the country’s rich cultural heritage.
The MP also proposed a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and global organizations to promote Ghana as the Chocolate Capital of the World, especially on Valentine’s Day. This could include events such as chocolate tastings, cooking classes, and cultural performances to attract international visitors.
Mr. Fokuo added that a collaboration with international chocolate experts to share knowledge and best practices to improve production technologies. He also proposed promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education focused on agriculture and food processing to build a skilled workforce.
He therefore urged the Ministry of Tourism to create a favourable policy environment that attracts investment and supports the growth of the Ghanaian chocolate industry.
Full Comments of Hon Tweneboa Fokuo
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity. Mr. Speaker, I’ll use this opportunity to extend my greetings to the good people of Masun Kwanta, many of whom are cocoa farmers and I’m sure they are watching me, they’ve been watching our programs these days. Mr. Speaker, I also take this opportunity confidently to extend my love to my beautiful wife Belinda Fuku, who is a staff of Bank of Africa.
I know some are not happy. So Belinda Fuku, my regards to you, I love you so much. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Valentine’s Day has come to stay and even the anticipation of it is just exciting.
When 14th of February is coming, the news, the media space everywhere, it gets exciting. So just anticipating it gets interesting. Mr. Speaker, allow me to use this opportunity to also commend our legend, Honourable Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey for rebranding the Valentine’s Day as Chocolate Day.
And that was a great innovation he did, and I commend him for that. Mr. Speaker, I would want to ask that we, the people of Ghana, we use this day to do other things besides the love of sharing chocolates and exchanging pleasantries. Could we look at using this day, this day of love, to call for the fielding factions in areas where we have hostilities in this country, to consider this day of love, to lay down their arms.
The day that we are celebrating love, at least for that day, can they sit face to face or can they mediate using this day of love to bring peace to the pockets of areas where we have challenges in this country, being it Boko, being it Kauai, wherever that we have challenges. Could we use the benefit of this beautiful day to bring peace in these pockets of areas? Again, Mr. Speaker, being intentional with this day, could we, just like we’ve had the tourism ministry doing its best to rebrand Christmas in Ghana as a day for people across the world to come and spend Christmas with us here, could we look at doing a similar thing so that Ghana, which is the second-largest producer of cocoa, becomes a hub for chocolates during Valentine’s Day, so people around the world will be excited that on the 14th of February, let’s all go to Ghana to enjoy chocolate, and it should be chocolate that is made in Ghana. So, Mr. Speaker, what I’m saying is let’s be intentional with it.
If Germany has what we call Oktoberfest, where people go sit together to drink beer, and this attracts tourists around the world, then Ghana, which has this commodity with all its health benefits, could be rebranded to make Ghana also a hub for chocolate, and we can also have a chocolate fest, just like Germany has the Oktoberfest. Thank you. I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity.
Thank you so much.
Source: Felix Nyaaba/www.expressnewsghana.com
About Author
