Boost for Ghana’s cocoa purchases

Some members of the delegation with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Ghana

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has begun talks with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to purchase cocoa beans from Ghana to Dubai.

The discussion is also to explore how the chamber could bring investors into the country to set up a processing factory in order to add value to the cocoa beans before exporting them.

“For now, we have had a roundtable with the COCOBOD in order to export either the raw cocoa beans or add value to it, but our main mission in Ghana is to ascertain the business opportunities existing in the country so that we can convince investors in Dubai to come and invest here,” the Director in charge of International Offices of the Chamber, Mr Omar Abdulaziz, told the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of a roadshow held last Saturday in Accra.

Roadshow

The day’s roadshow was organised in Ghana by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) to promote Dubai’s tourism to the West African audience.

This follows a successful edition in Nigeria last year. The event was aimed at strengthening relationships with key industry stakeholders in the region.

Together with 11 of its Dubai-based partners, the roadshow started in Nigeria and ended in Ghana with a showcase of Dubai’s expanding portfolio of affordable luxury experiences in travel, accommodation, entertainment and events, with a focus on family travel.

Mr Abdulaziz indicated that the delegation from Dubai had been enthused about Ghana’s investment opportunities in agriculture, mining, real estate, tourism and energy.

He said he was confident the business opportunities existing in Ghana would propel both countries to increase trade volumes within the short to medium term.

Priority market

The Africa Regional Director of Dubai Tourism, Mrs Stella Obinwa, observed that Africa continued to be a priority market for investors in Dubai, with massive potential for more visitors to choose that country as their preferred destination.

“Following our successful event last year in Nigeria, we are delighted to bring back our roadshow to both countries in West Africa. This gives us the opportunity to engage with key local travel partners and provide them with a greater understanding of Dubai’s holistic destination offering,” she added.

She said the roadshow also marked the beginning of a year that was to capitalise on the successful openings and launches in the city throughout 2016, including family-friendly destinations such as Dubai Parks and Resorts.

Source: GraphicOnline