On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Hajia Alima Mahama, paid a courtesy visit to Cargill’s state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility at the free zones enclave in Tema, accompanied by AmCham Ghana Executive Secretary, Simon Madjie, and the Chief Commercial Officer and Head of the One District One Factory (1D1F) Initiative at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Kofi Addo.
This was part of the Ambassador’s engagement with U.S. companies in Ghana under the auspices of the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana.
Ambassador Hajia Alima Mahama interacted with the Managing Director of Cargill Ghana, Aedo van der Weij, and other managers to understand the company’s operations and was given a tour of the plant to meet with the various employees as well as have an experience of the different stages of cocoa processing.
Cargill has been sourcing cocoa from Ghana for over 40 years, and in 2008 opened its state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility in Tema, employing around 240 employees processing cocoa products to service food and confectionary customers locally and around the world. Cargill, also through its various activities in the cocoa supply chain, provides about 750 direct jobs, the majority of which are locals.
The Ambassador was impressed by Cargill’s deliberate efforts at employing and empowering locals. She said it is indicative that given the right conditions and resources, Ghana has the human resource to support industries.
In 2016, Cargill added a Licensed Buying Company (LBC) to its Ghanaian footprint. The LBC operations bring innovative ways to trade with farmers directly, emphasizing their sustainability and traceability efforts.
The company has invested over $3.2 million into sustainability programming with partners CARE and the International Cocoa Initiative to address the educational gap in 250 communities in the Western North region of Ghana by providing school buildings.
The Ambassador was also honored to plant a symbolic cocoa tree in the middle of the Cargill garden. A gesture of goodwill and Cargill’s commitment to Ghana’s cocoa sector.