By Joseph Yoyowa
Akua Oforiwa Darko has been adjudged the journalist of the year for the 2021 Ghana Cocoa Awards, with her feature story on “The Bitter Side Of Cocoa In Ghana”. Her story highlighted the challenges of bad roads in Cocoa districts and the importance of Cocoa Rural Service Centers (RSCs) in Ghana.
The Ghana Cocoa Awards, which seeks to reward personalities and organizations that have played remarkable roles in driving Ghana’s cocoa for national development, was held in Accra. The Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his immense contribution to the industry.
The awards consisted of 38 categories including Beverage of the Year, Brand of the Year, Business Leader of the year, Chocolate Brand of the year, Emerging Processing Company of the Year, Financial Institution of the Year and Shipping Company of the Year.
COCOBOD achieves its target.
COCOBOD has achieved its 1 million metric tonnes of cocoa production target for the 2020/2021 crop season, representing a 37 per cent leap within 4 years. The Chief Executive of COCOBOD Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo said this at the 3rd edition of the Ghana Cocoa Awards in Accra.
Ghana’s potential of becoming Africa’s chocolate manufacturing hub in the next 5 years is unmatched. The country having the youngest population against the 1.4 billion Africans is enough motivation for local industries to expand processing of cocoa to finished products because of the already existing market for the consumption of processed cocoa in the country. COCOBOD projects a huge marginal increment of foreign exchange from 3 billion to 50 billion dollars by 2030 if stakeholders redirect their efforts towards value addition with the aid of government’s intervention which is paramount for the realization of the potential. Speaking at the 2021 edition of the Ghana Cocoa Awards, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo said the company has made strides to ensure that Ghana’s export of raw cocoa beans reduces drastically.
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