Ghana Cocoa Awards launched

The second edition of Ghana Cocoa Awards has been scheduled to be held in Accra on Saturday, November 14, 2020.

The award recognises excellence in the cocoa industry and serves as a platform for networking and creating visibility for outstanding leadership and success stories.

This year’s edition is on the theme, ‘The Africa Continental Free Trade Area – Prospects and opportunities for Africa’s cocoa.’

In a press statement, Founder and Event Director, Mr Kojo Hayford, said the Ghana Cocoa Awards, which started last year, was instituted to shine the limelight on personalities and success stories in the country’s cocoa industry.

He said 30 organisations and individuals would be awarded this year, explaining nominations for the programme were “open till 16th October, 2020″.

“The year 2020 has been a particularly difficult year globally as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. But at the same time, the concerted response of the cocoa industry in Ghana and the sheer resilience demonstrated, we believe, is worth celebrating,” the Founder and Event Director said.

Mr Hayford said in view of that, the Advisory and Awarding Board of the Ghana Cocoa Awards had agreed that five organisations that stood out in the fight against COVID-19 be awarded with the COVID-19 Hero Honorary Award.

Some of the award categories he mentioned were sustainability and non-governmental organisations (NGOs); agro-input; internal marketing; technology; haulage and logistics; processing and manufacturing; artisanal value addition; consumption and promotion; tourism and media.

Others were Company Chief Executive Officer and Entrepreneur of the Year;, Brands of the Year; Cocoa Financing Institution; Export Promotion; Lifetime Achievement; and Woman of Excellence.

Cocoa, Ghana’s leading cash crop, contributes about US$2 billion annually to the economy of Ghana and this is made possible by the combined effort of cocoa farmers and a complex chain of hardworking non-farming actors.

The Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, last year emerged winner of the ultimate award, The Cocoa Personality of the Year and also shared the  Cocoa Farmer Income Sustainability Honourary Award  with his Ivorian counterpart, Mr Yves Brahima Kone, the Director-General of Conseil du Café-Cacao.

BY TIMES REPORTER