Ours will be the first plant in Africa to process cocoa beans to chocolate, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has said.
Ayade made the remark just as he expressed satisfaction over the ongoing work at the 30000 tonnes per anum cocoa processing plant in Ikom.
He said with the level of work, the plant would be completed and commissioned.
His words: “I am really impressed. As you can see, intellectual money is on display here. From what I have seen, the contractors deserve excellent pats on the back. This is what we call commitment and consistency…
“Again, we are going to be the first in Africa as this is the first cocoa processing plant that will process cocoa beans to chocolate.”
The governor described the plant as one designed to improve the economic wellbeing of the people of the state.
He said the plant would ultimately enrich cocoa farmers in the state.
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“This is the spirit of intellectual money and Cross River ultimately will be proud that I knew where I was going from the beginning. I am following an agenda that at the end of my eight years in office, when every single citizen of the state remembers my days, he or she will say this young man had a great vision.
“For all the years gone by Cross River has been producing cocoa for other states to bear the name because we did not have an off-take mechanism, we did not have a programme by government to buy off the cocoa at good rates. So, outsiders used to come in and buy the cocoa from us and grade it as cocoa from their own state,” he said.
The plant, he said, would offer “the opportunity, platform and industry to process their own cocoa, giving a premium value for money.”
He added that a cocoa house would be built.
“Once you have a cocoa farm, you just come here, collect money during harvest. We take your cocoa, so you have money for the product and you don’t have to go to bank to get a loan,” he pointed out.
