Iranian company to build chocolate factory in Ghana - Dr Akoto

Ghana is set to sign a record-breaking agreement with an Iranian private company for the setting up of a 300,000 tonnes cocoa processing company to produce chocolate for both local and international markets.

 The two countries had earlier signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Tehran, Iran, and the final signing of the agreement is expected to take place in Accra within the next two months when actual timelines will be outlined.

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and the Vice President of the Shirin Arsal Food Industry Group, Mr Amir Taghdisi signed for Ghana and the company respectively.

Chocolate processing factory

The company, Shirin Arsal Food Industrial Group, a multi-billion dollar international company operating in 63 other countries, is expected to be the first company to process cocoa beans from the primary through the secondary stage.

Dr Akoto, who announced this in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra shortly after his return from Iran, explained that currently, all the chocolate producing companies, including the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), only processed the beans up to the primary level and the remainder of the processing chain was done in Europe and America for the production of the final chocolate.

“All the cocoa production companies in the country are engaged in the primary processing of the beans to the liquor, which they then export to Europe for the manufacturing of chocolate.

“So, for the first time, we have been able to get a company which is prepared to come to Ghana to set up a chocolate factory to undertake not only the primary processing, but the secondary and even tertiary into actual chocolate under their own brand called ‘AfriGhana,” Dr Akoto told the Daily Graphic.

He said the chocolate to be produced by the company would not only be sold on the local market, but distributed to the 63 countries where the company had its outlets.

Business opportunities

The minister was part of a government delegation led by the Vice-President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, to witness the swearing-in of the re-elected President of Iran.

Dr Akoto told the Daily Graphic that the delegation used the visit as an opportunity to interact with the Iranian business community, who were keen to invest in Ghana in the various sectors of the economy.

Focusing on the agricultural sector, he said a number of Iranian companies were interested in areas such as fertiliser production, the establishment of a tractor manufacturing company, green housing, pesticide production, livestock and poultry farming and other initiatives.

Business impact

Dr Akoto said the rippling effect of such business relations were “unimaginable” and mentioned particularly that a number of jobs would be created for the youth.

The minister also identified technology transfer, raking in of “massive” revenue, especially with the cocoa processing factory, adding that it would encourage the local processing companies to resort to producing their finished chocolates locally.

He said the government of Iran was interested in the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs policy and wanted to know which areas it could support.

“We indicated that we need fertilisers, mechanisation centres to produce local tractors and other machinery,” he said.

Dr Akoto was, therefore, confident that the business session of the visit would be beneficial to the country as a whole.