The wine-tasting event, hosted at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, on Saturday, July 16, 2022, was organised by WoSA in collaboration with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA).

Speaking to citinewsroom.com, the CEO of GEPA, Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, said the partnership is intended to promote both Ghana and South Africa as premium producers of chocolates and wine, respectively, while helping to boost intra-continental trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

According to her, aside from the 3 major chocolate exporting companies in Ghana; Cocoa Processing Company, Niche Cocoa and Fair Afric Ghana, GEPA is helping in the area of capacity building in the fast-growing artisanal sector, with over 30 companies producing innovative products.

Dr. Asabea Asare stated that GEPA sponsored members of the Cocoa Value Addition Artisans Association of Ghana (COVAAAGh) to participate in roadshow events in Lagos and Accra on the 14th and 16th of July 2022, respectively.

Dr. Afua Asabea Asare (GEPA CEO)

She added that GEPA is preparing the participation of the industry in the main event to be held in South Africa as well as the Salon du Chocolat Fair in France, all scheduled to take place later this year.

“In 2021, GEPA organised and supported the industry to participate in Salon du Chocolat in Paris. On the sidelines of the fair, GEPA organised a trade and investment fair in Paris to further promote our chocolate industry to investors,” she said.

She said GEPA has identified chocolates and the entire processed cocoa value chain as one of the priority products in the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) which was launched by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2020.

NEDS, being spearheaded by GEPA, aims to transform Ghana’s traditional raw commodities-based economy into a competitive export-led industrialised economy capable of generating revenue of at least $25.3 billion by the year 2029.

Globally acclaimed as a premium producer of cocoa, supplying roughly a quarter of the world’s cocoa beans, Ghana, currently earns less than $2 billion out of the nearly $140 billion chocolate industry because of its low capacity to process cocoa beans into chocolates and other high-value cocoa products.