With the opening of its first cocoa factory, Sierra Leone ironically hopes the industry will improve the lives of farmers, just as the main producing countries of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana bemoan the poor living conditions their farmers are enduring.
The factory opened in Kenema Village, attended by president Julius Maada Bio, who quoted in an opening ceremony that it was a ‘giant step’ for the country and economy. This might say more about the economy than it does about the cocoa industry.
The factory can process 4,000 tonnes of beans per annum, which as a percentage of the countries production, is actually on par with Côte d’Ivoire at 25%.
The factory is owned by Capitol Foods Limited, and CEO Hamza Hashim believes that it will help the country move up the value chain, as others are also doing, and be a positive first step in ensuring that as the nascent industry grows, it is able to share the value with the farmers, instead of exporting that value to foreign companies.
