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Ghana’s Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, says Aliko Dangote has approached the government over a proposed arrangement to process 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa locally.
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The proposed deal comes as Ghana targets local processing of at least 50 per cent of its cocoa by 2028 and 100 per cent by 2030.
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Ghana already has installed cocoa-processing capacity of about 504,780 tonnes, but factories have been operating below capacity because of inconsistent bean supplies.
November 13, (THEWILL) – Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote is in discussions with the Ghanaian government over a proposed arrangement to process 500,000 metric tonnes of cocoa locally, as the country seeks to become a major processing hub in West Africa.
Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, disclosed this in an interview with Joy News on Thursday, November 12, following the presentation of the country’s 2027 Budget to Parliament.
Forson said Dangote had personally contacted him and President John Dramani Mahama to express interest in establishing cocoa-processing operations in Ghana.
The minister said the proposed arrangement could support the government’s plan to retain more value from cocoa production instead of exporting large volumes of raw beans for processing elsewhere.
“Dangote has reached out to use Ghana as a hub to process cocoa locally,” Forson said.
He added that discussions were ongoing over the terms of the proposed contract, with Dangote’s representatives seeking to formalise the arrangement.
“We are going through the terms, and they want to sign a contract,” he said.
The minister did not disclose the proposed investment value, location of the processing facilities or the timeframe covered by the 500,000-tonne arrangement. No agreement has been signed, leaving the proposal subject to further negotiations.
Ghana targets full local processing by 2030
The proposed engagement comes as Ghana intensifies efforts to expand domestic cocoa processing and reduce its reliance on raw bean exports.
Under its 2027 Budget and wider economic transformation programme, the government targets processing at least 50 percent of locally produced cocoa by 2028 and increasing the share to 100 percent by 2030.
The plan is expected to extend beyond the initial grinding of cocoa beans to the production of cocoa liquor, butter, cake, powder, chocolate, cosmetics and other finished products.
Forson said the government wanted investors to establish processing operations in Ghana so that more of the income, industrial activity and employment generated by the cocoa value chain would remain in the country.
“We are not saying don’t come and buy our cocoa beans, but if you are a company out there, come and buy our cocoa beans, but add value here in Ghana,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that a new Cocoa Board Act before Parliament contains provisions for mandatory local processing, while a legislative instrument would establish the timetable for moving from the 50 per cent target to full domestic processing by 2030.
Ghana’s ambitions are backed by an existing processing base.
A December 2025 report by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service put the country’s installed cocoa-grinding capacity at 504,780 metric tonnes.
However, processors were reportedly operating at 50 per cent or below of installed capacity because of insufficient and inconsistent supplies of cocoa beans.
The report projected domestic grindings of 300,000 tonnes for the 2025/2026 season.
This means Ghana’s challenge is not limited to expanding factory capacity.
Securing a reliable supply of beans for local processors will also be critical to achieving the government’s targets and supporting any large-scale arrangement with Dangote.
In February 2026, Ghana’s Cabinet directed that at least 50 per cent of cocoa beans should be processed locally from the 2026/2027 crop season.
It also announced plans to revive the state-owned Cocoa Processing Company and improve the financing arrangements for cocoa purchases.
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Dangote extends agricultural and industrial investments across Africa
The proposed Ghana arrangement would add cocoa processing to Dangote’s investments and expansion plans across agriculture, food production and industrial manufacturing.
In Nigeria, the Dangote Group announced a planned $250m investment in rice and sugarcane production in Jigawa State in 2015.
The proposal included 15,000 hectares for rice cultivation, a rice mill and a separate sugarcane development component.
In March 2018, the group announced the construction of a rice-processing mill in Hadin, Jigawa, with a planned capacity of 16 metric tonnes of paddy rice per hour under its Rice Outgrower Scheme.
The group has also expanded its fertiliser ambitions outside Nigeria. In August 2025, Dangote Industries and Ethiopian Investment Holdings signed a $2.5bn agreement to develop a fertiliser complex in Ethiopia, with an annual production capacity of up to three million metric tonnes of urea.
By May 2026, the planned investment had increased to more than $4bn following an expansion of the project’s scope to include a gas pipeline, power plant, polypropylene packaging facility and a two-million-tonne NPK blending plant.
The Ghana cocoa proposal would extend this regional investment strategy into the processing of one of West Africa’s major agricultural commodities.
For Ghana, the potential arrangement could provide additional investment and processing capacity as it seeks to increase domestic value addition.
However, the scale of the eventual investment, the source of cocoa supplies and the structure of the proposed contract will determine how much the deal contributes to the country’s 2030 target.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze is a writer specializing in business and economic journalism. At THEWILL News Media, she translates market trends, financial developments, and policy shifts into clear and engaging stories.