Former Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, has charged Ghana to capitalize on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement to sell its cocoa.

His reaction follows reports that China had begun the production of cocoa.

The Asian country is reported to have exported its first batch of cocoa beans weighing 500 kg worth about $3,600 to Belgium.

According to the former ambassador, the country has more room to come up with products from cocoa.

“I think what we should be looking at is how much more can we do with our cocoa. I still think that we as a nation have more room to develop more products from our cocoa.”

“Even if we take out the Chinese market, AfCFTA itself offers us a huge market. If we get even 20 percent of Africa to consume our cocoa, that itself is a big market,” he added.

Mr. Boateng raised concerns on the need for Ghana to give attention to processing and exporting its cocoa and gaining market ground on the continent.

The former ambassador’s assertions are because the AfCFTA is a trade agreement between 52 African states that seeks to remove trade barriers amongst the participating countries.

The agreement creates the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating.

It will connect 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion.