Accra, Oct 31, GNA - Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), a major confectionery manufacturer, on Tuesday paid 1.55 billion cedis in dividend to the government of Ghana, its majority shareholder. This is the first time the company has paid any dividend to government since it was listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange three years ago. CPC successfully floated 40 per cent of the shares of the sole shareholder to the public in 2003.

Nana Obiri Boahen, Board Chairman of CPC, said the initial challenges faced by the company had been subdued while its expansion and rehabilitation programme embarked on in 2004 with the view to increase overall throughput capacity from 25,000 to 65,000 metric tonnes annually was well on course and substantially accomplished.

The first phase of the programme involving the construction of a state-of-the-art 30,000-metric tons per annum capacity liquor plant was completed and commissioned in November last year.

Nana Boahen said the second phase, which will deal with the refurbishment of the old cocoa factory in order to increase its capacity from 25,000 to 35,000 tons per annum had started and expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2007.

The expansion is expected to generate an annual turnover of 100 million dollars for the company.

Besides this physical transformation, the company was undergoing a major structural reorganisation, which will substantially boost its efficiency, Nana Boahen added.

This is expected to result in job cuts, he said, but added that the company was committed to an amicable settlement for the job losses. He appealed to government to continue to support the company to achieve its set goals.

In response, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance, said government would do all it could to support local industries and companies to become competitive.

He said the expansion works being carried out by the company was in line with government's vision to process at least 40 per cent of local production of cocoa, which had been growing steadily reaching 730,000 tons in the 2005/06 cocoa season. 31 Oct. 06