The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) in partnership with the African Coconut Group (ACG) will hold the second International Coconut Festival in Ghana under the theme “Repositioning Ghana’s Coconut Sector for the Accelerated Industrialization Agenda”.
The 2022 edition was launched on Friday, August 12 at Alabokazo in the Ellembele District of the Western Region.
In her address, the CEO of GEPA, Dr. Asabea Asare, assured stakeholders in the coconut industry of GEPA’s commitment to supporting the industry to achieve an expected annual revenue of USD2.8 billion in exports.
This year’s event will take place from the 20th to the 23rd of September at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).
Other activities include seminar, mentorship for young people and sessions with women in coconut.
In 2019, GEPA partnered with ACG to hold the first ever International Coconut Festival in Ghana, which brought together exhibitors as well as major players to promote the coconut business.
The government of Ghana added coconut to the National Tree Crop Development Authority (NTCDA), which was established in 2019 and mandated to develop and regulate the production, processing, marketing a2nd export of coconut and other selected tree crops.
According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database for the year 2017, Ghana ranked 14th on the list of the world’s top coconut producers with 383,960 metric tonnes produced in 2017 alone.
The country’s export of desiccated coconut alone amounted to 21.9 million dollars in 2021 from 6.3 million dollars in 2020 and 3.8 million dollars in 2019, making Ghana 9th in global export of desiccated coconut.
