The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation in charge of Operations and Technical, Onasis Kobby, has argued that the turbulence in Ghana’s cocoa sector underscores the urgent need for the country to accelerate the development of a comprehensive petroleum and petrochemical hub.
In a statement shared on his social media platforms, Mr Kobby linked the structural challenges in the cocoa industry to what he described as a long-standing failure to prioritise value addition. According to him, Ghana’s dependence on exporting raw cocoa beans has left the sector exposed to the fluctuations of international commodity markets.
He maintained that continuous reliance on raw exports makes the country vulnerable to global price volatility, with severe consequences for farmers and the wider economy. When prices rise, he suggested, the country enjoys short-term gains, but downturns create instability that reverberates across the sector.
Referencing recent remarks by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Mr Kobby said the government’s renewed focus on reforming the cocoa industry has reinforced his conviction that Ghana must pursue large-scale industrial projects such as the Petroleum Hub.
“Watching the hardworking Finance Minister, Hon. Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, break down the issues crippling our cocoa sector—and the decisive measures the government is taking to address them and prevent future recurrences—has strengthened my belief that, now more than ever, Ghana needs ambitious projects like the Petroleum Hub.
“At the heart of the issues outlined by Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson is that, over the years, we have not prioritised value addition and have relied solely on exporting raw beans. As a result, we remain at the mercy of volatile global cocoa prices. If prices rise, we benefit; if they plummet, chaos ensues.
“To prevent a recurrence of the same problems and ensure that our hardworking farmers receive fair value for their efforts in cocoa farms across the country, the John Mahama administration, through Cabinet, has directed that, starting from the 2026/2027 crop season, at least 50% of Ghana’s cocoa beans must be processed locally. In addition, the remaining beans from the 2025/2026 season will be directed toward domestic processing,” parts of his statement read.
Mr Kobby argued that the cocoa processing directive reflects the same underlying philosophy as the Petroleum Hub project, which seeks to shift Ghana from exporting raw crude oil and gas to refining and processing those resources domestically.
“This strategic shift shares the same foundational vision as the Petroleum Hub project: moving away from merely exporting raw resources and instead adding value domestically. The new cocoa policy addresses long-standing issues such as underutilised processing capacity and price volatility by converting more beans into higher-value products (such as cocoa butter, powder, and liquor).
“Similarly, the Petroleum Hub project is essentially a major infrastructure initiative that will enable us to convert crude oil into refined fuels, petrochemicals, and by-products—thereby reducing import dependence, creating greater economic multipliers, and driving local industrial growth,” he said.
The Petroleum Hub project, which has been positioned as a transformative industrial venture, is designed to establish large-scale refining, storage and petrochemical facilities aimed at boosting Ghana’s downstream petroleum capacity.
For Mr Kobby, the lessons from the cocoa sector are clear. Without deliberate policies that promote domestic processing and industrialisation, commodity-dependent economies remain exposed to external shocks. By drawing parallels between cocoa and crude oil, he suggests that Ghana’s long-term economic resilience lies not in exporting raw materials, but in building the infrastructure and capacity to add value at home.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh