[ACCI-CAVIE] Cargill announced it has completed a 16-month, $13 million expansion of its cocoa processing facility in Tema, Ghana, an initiative that increased the plant’s grind capability by 20% and bolstered its annual production capacity to 90,000 tonnes. With the expansion the plant becomes the largest cocoa processing facility in Ghana.

“This kind of investment can serve as an engine to jump-start new economic activities,” says Harold Poelma, president of Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate. “It is part of our ongoing effort to build sustainable, local agri-food businesses, diversify revenue streams and support a thriving cocoa sector.”

Alongside the commissioning of the Tema processing facility, Cargill highlighted other efforts to support sector transformation and social impact, in partnership with state agencies such as COCOBOD and other key stakeholders such as CARE International and Safe Water Ghana.

“Establishing close partnership with government agencies, technical partners and local community leaders enables us to make meaningful impacts in the communities where we do business,” says Aedo van der Weij, managing director of Cargill Ghana. “They share our vision and help guide our efforts in creating a sustainable cocoa supply chain. Working together, we can achieve far more than we ever could alone.”

The announcement comes less than a month after Cargill completed a $100 million expansion of its cocoa processing facilities in Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire, a project that makes the Yopougon facility the single largest cocoa grinding plant in Africa. As part of the expansion, Cargill doubled production capacity at the site, enhanced infrastructure and implemented safety improvements. The expansion also resulted in the creation of nearly 100 full-time, local jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs, Cargill said.

By Eric Schroeder