BTA Admin Ghana is moving to keep its cocoa export chain running around the clock as the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) begins 24-hour operations at its cocoa takeover and export facilities in Tema and Takoradi.
The new system is designed to reduce delays in the movement of cocoa from licensed buying companies to warehouses, processing factories and vessels, while improving the speed at which Ghana’s cocoa is prepared for export.
CMC Managing Director Wisdom Dogbey said the initiative is built around three new operating commitments — Offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24 — which will allow key activities in the cocoa logistics chain to continue beyond the traditional 5pm closing time.
Under the new arrangement, cocoa delivered by licensed buying companies can be received throughout the day and night. Local processing companies will also be able to receive cocoa continuously, while inspection, sealing, documentation and other export preparations will continue outside normal working hours.
The move comes as Ghana seeks to improve the efficiency of its cocoa industry and retain its position as one of the world’s leading cocoa-producing countries.
Mr Dogbey said the decision to introduce round-the-clock operations was driven partly by a mismatch in operating hours across the export chain.
While ports, customs authorities, shipping lines and transport operators already work beyond conventional office hours, CMC warehouses and terminals had traditionally closed earlier, creating delays for trucks and cargo waiting to move through the system.
“By operating around the clock, we can reduce congestion, improve turnaround times, make better use of our infrastructure and accelerate export through multiple shifts,” Mr Dogbey said.
The cost of waiting
For Ghana’s cocoa industry, delays are not simply a logistical inconvenience. They can increase transportation costs, create congestion and contribute to vessel waiting time and demurrage charges.
Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, said the new operating model would allow cocoa facilities to work across three shifts instead of relying largely on a single daytime shift.
He said faster movement of cocoa from licensed buying companies to warehouses and vessels would also reduce the period cocoa beans remain exposed to humidity and handling risks.
The quicker takeover process is expected to allow licensed buying companies to receive takeover receipts sooner, which could in turn support faster payments to companies that finance cocoa purchases from farmers.
The new system is therefore expected to improve efficiency at several points in the cocoa value chain rather than simply extending warehouse working hours.
Why cocoa warehouses cannot close at 5pm
The scale of the problem was illustrated by COCOBOD Board Chairman Dr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, who recalled seeing trucks waiting to discharge cocoa beans during a recent visit to Takoradi.
When he asked about the closing time, he was told operations ended at 5pm.
That situation, he argued, is increasingly difficult to justify in an industry serving international buyers and operating within a global trading environment.
Dr Ofosu-Ampofo also called for COCOBOD’s trading room to operate around the clock so that Ghana can respond more effectively to buyers in major markets including Japan, China, Dubai and the United States.
The broader objective is to ensure that Ghana’s cocoa business does not operate on a traditional office-hours model while the international market continues trading across different time zones.
Ghana wants more value from cocoa
The 24-hour CMC operation forms part of a wider push to make Ghana’s cocoa industry more productive and retain more value domestically.
Presidential Advisor for the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development, Augustus Tanoh, said a feasibility study by a committee of experts found the new operating model to be operationally and commercially sound.
He linked the initiative to the new COCOBOD law passed by Parliament on July 30, 2026.
According to Mr Tanoh, the legislation guarantees cocoa farmers no less than 70% of the gross free-on-board value of cocoa.
The government is also targeting greater domestic processing, with plans for at least half of Ghana’s cocoa crop to be processed locally before export from the 2026/27 season.
That would represent a major shift in the country’s traditional cocoa model, where large volumes of raw cocoa beans are exported and much of the higher-value processing takes place outside Ghana.
Increasing domestic processing would allow more of the economic value generated from cocoa to remain in the country through manufacturing, jobs, logistics and related industries.
New jobs, but higher operating costs
The 24-hour model is also expected to create employment opportunities in cocoa-producing and port communities.
COCOBOD said additional workers would be required across areas including dock operations, quality control, weighbridge services, security and logistics.
However, the expansion will also increase operating costs.
CMC has identified improvements in lighting, surveillance, health facilities, transportation, drainage and security as necessary conditions for night operations.
Management has stressed that additional shifts will only begin where the required safety conditions are in place.
Dr Abbey said the initial rollout would focus on high-volume facilities in Tema and Takoradi, with the efficiency gains monitored against the additional cost of operating at night.
For the programme to deliver its full potential, however, CMC will need other parts of the export chain to work on the same schedule.
Customs, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, shipping lines, hauliers and other COCOBOD units will need to coordinate their operations so that delays are not simply transferred from cocoa warehouses to another part of the logistics chain.
A more competitive cocoa business
For Ghana, the significance of the initiative goes beyond longer working hours.
Cocoa remains one of the country’s most important agricultural exports, but inefficiencies across the supply chain can increase costs and reduce the competitiveness of Ghanaian cocoa in international markets.
By moving toward a 24-hour export system, authorities hope to shorten the time between cocoa purchases and shipment, reduce congestion and make better use of existing infrastructure.
The initiative also fits into the government’s broader 24-Hour Economy agenda, which seeks to increase productivity by allowing strategic economic activities to operate for longer periods.
If successfully implemented, the new CMC system could provide Ghana with a faster and more efficient cocoa export pipeline while supporting local jobs and helping the country capture more value from one of its most important commodities.
The immediate test, however, will be whether the entire cocoa logistics chain can operate with the same discipline and speed.
For Ghana’s cocoa industry, going 24/7 could mark an important step toward making the country’s export operations match the demands of a global market that never stops moving.
