Ghana is still in Primary School

Dr Kwame Nkrumah asked in 1965, late Joachim Burmeister, Hamburg-Othmarschen, Germany, to build Cocoa Processing Company Limited, Tema (GoldenTree) for the nation. Besides controlling the price of Ghana cocoa by erecting Silos in Tema, he wanted to ensure the value chain of cocoa stays in the hands of his people and that Ghana will not only be regarded as a low country only able to grow the best cocoa beans in the world but mature enough to produce the best chocolate in the world. Ghana has not come out of Primary School yet.

Chocolate is not only a product which anyone can produce to standard recipes when money for a factory is available. Basic knowledge (Primary School level). Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and
Elon Musk, Coca-Cola and Red Bull (A-level qualification) have understood the product is not the success story but the philosophy behind the product, the dream, the vision is the success element. They all use certain techniques and means to make people dream and want, and want, and want their products even before they can be bought with money. Chocolate is an enjoyment, the only product in the world which, by itself, makes a human happy. No other product can achieve what chocolate can achieve. Besides a chocolate bar, it is a means of communication, a tool to establish universal friendship beyond borders and races, to attract investors and boost tourism. It is the donkey that shits gold, as we Germans say.

Coming out of the hospital right now, God opened my eyes. The best doctors I could find treated me, and I love them. While working on my body, I lectured them on politics and about Africa, especially Ghana and Ghana cocoa and the chocolate industry there. While I thanked them for making me well again, they gave me thanks for my lecturers so the patients I shared the hospital rooms with. We all had a great time in our difficult situation. This was another strong reminder that we all have our talents and interests, and no one needs to feel ashamed of not being perfect in everything as long as we show each other love and respect. In fact, to be successful in life, we must rely on and accept help from outside. Only when we feel ashamed of accepting the help offered are we in misery for good.

Ghana still does not understand this simple fact when refusing to buy the Cocoa Processing Company Ltd in Tema and help with ideas for the cocoa sector, which needs radical changes before it can benefit farmers and the nation at large. I am healed, but Ghana is still sick.