Ghana's poverty: wrong priorities

The identity of Ghanaians is not gold...but cocoa. When gold is exploited one day cocoa will still feed Ghanaians. Agriculture is the backbone of any successful economy while industrialization is the icing on the cake. Services and Environmental protection are the preservation of a progressive economy. Politics is the manager of it all.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah built the Silos in Tema never used to facilitate a single cocoa bean. It was intended to store cocoa and wait for the best price to come. In 1965 he asked Joachim Burmeister from Hamburg, Germany to set up CPC Ltd in Tema, Ghana to produce chocolate for the nation. A company of 700 workers collapsed into a company of about 200 employees. Run as an SOE (State Owned Enterprise) politicians started to ruine the company causing annual losses to the nation of $ 12-14 Mio. eventually getting delisted from the Ghana Stock Exchange in 2014.

Lindt of Switzerland buys 80% of its cocoa from Ghana and sells its products in Ghana along with Ritter Sport, Haloren Kugeln, Cadbury, etc.. Since 1965 CPC Ltd has never exported chocolate to the countries of the white man a place to make good money which could be used to sponsor the prices for local consumption and fulfill the demand of Otumfo Osei Tutu II to bring down the prices of chocolate.

Chocolate is not rocket science but know-how, creativity, determination to succeed, and passion for the product and process. Cocoa Cola and Red Bull are poor products anything but healthy or tasty. Their marketing made them a worldwide number-one product loved and cherished by Billions around the world. Ghana never knew how to copy them and find their successful way into the hearts and stomachs around the world. The Big Six in the market works like a Mafia rejoicing behind closed doors about "these stupid black people all they can do is to grow cocoa but they are too stupid to produce decent chocolate. Let us keep them in poverty and enjoy our annual profit." Marketing ideas are for free free of a free mind. Colonial Master subject mentality is the dominating factor in this industry of Ghana.

A successful society is determined by addressing the priority factors: which products and services must be produced nationally to secure the future, which once other countries can do better and cheaper and what are the cash cows to make extra cash from other countries.

Ghana's cocoa industry is in the hands of Cocobod and a handful of LBC Licenced Buying companies under the supervision of the state. Corruption cases in Cocobod are not the only factor why the cocoa industry is not working to standard and possibilities. The overall concept does not follow a modern progressive approach. Galamsey destroys many cocoa plantations, a lack of high-performance Cocoa Research (Ivory Coast has taken the lead), training of farmers, reduction of chemicals, and replacement of organic cocoa beans, and reduction of export of cocoa but production in the county to mention a few serious glitches.

Before producing mobile phones, cars, gadgets, furniture, etc., please Ghana get your priorities right...and you are good to go!