GHANA ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY - MARCH 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000836 SIPDIS SIPDIS COMMERCE FOR MARIA RIVERO TREASURY FOR LUKAS KOEHLER US CUSTOMS AND BORDER FOR ERIC WALKER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EINV EAGR ECPS EAID ETRD GH SUBJECT: GHANA ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY - MARCH 2006 ACCRA 00000836 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This report covers noteworthy economic events and activities in Ghana for February and March 2006. The issues covered are: -- Dole subsidiary inaugurates one million tree banana farm -- Communications Minister's comments on future of Westel -- ADM plans construction of a cocoa processing plant -- Ghana and U.S. Navy host Maritime Security Conference -- U.S. Customs training program -- OECD/GoG Meetings on the Paris Declaration DOLE SUBSIDIARY INAUGURATES BANANA FARM -------------- ¶2. On March 24, Dole subsidiary Compagnie Fruitiere and partner Gold Exotics Limited inaugurated its one million-tree banana farm at Kasunya north of Accra. The farm is built on the site of a failed sugar cane project begun in the 1960's. Dole expects the farm to export 40,000 tons in 2006, and 60,000 tons in 2007. Compagnie Fruitiere also owns a large pineapple farm in Ghana. Together, the two farms employ over 2500 people. President Kufuor, Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen, and Minister of Food and Agriculture Ernest Akobuor Debrah attended the event. COMMUNICATION MINISTER'S COMMENTS ON FUTURE OF WESTEL -------------- -------------- ¶3. During a courtesy call between Ambassador Bridgewater Minister of Communication Albert Kan Dapaah, Kan Dapaah discussed the GoG's decision to purchase Westel from U.S. Telecom company Western Wireless International for $10 million. The Minister claimed the GoG intended to sell Westel for $60 million, although no date had been set for a public tender. Kan Dapaah also reiterated his oft-stated desire to capture 5% of the world's English language call-center market. ADM PLANS CONSTRUCTION OF COCOA PROCESSING PLANT -------------- --- ¶4. During a March 23 courtesy call on the Ambassador, Mark Bemis, President of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Cocoa, said ADM plans to build a cocoa grinding facility in the Kumasi area. It will be a relatively small facility, with total investment slightly over $25 million and construction beginning before the end of 2006. In 2005 ADM Cocoa purchased 100,000 tons of Ghanaian cocoa, making it the largest buyer of Ghana's primary export, as well as its largest single contributor of foreign exchange. ADM is coordinating with Econ and FCS on an Embassy-sponsored single company promotion event to publicize the project. (Note: ADM officials noted to Econoffs that Ghana cocoa is of extremely high quality, and therefore highly sought after in the chocolate industry. However, they also noted that the value of Ghanaian cocoa is in blending process, where buyers grind various types of cocoa beans together to make specific mixes. So, grinding the cocoa in Ghana could actually diminish the value of Ghanaian cocoa. Therefore, ADM, Cargill and other buyers are resisting pressure from the GoG to grind a larger percentage of Ghanaian cocoa in Ghana. End Note). GHANA AND U.S. NAVY HOST MARITIME SECURITY CONFERENCE -------------- -------------- ¶5. Military and civilian representatives from Africa, Europe, and the U.S. attended the U.S. Navy-sponsored workshop at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center in Accra March 19 - 22 to discuss maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea. The conference identified common vulnerabilities and threats within the maritime domain in order to initiate dialogue between countries for regional cooperation on maritime security. The workshop was a lead in to a ministerial meeting that the African Center for Strategic Studies and U.S. Naval Forces Europe will hold at the end of ¶2006. Post will follow up with additional reporting when the workshop's report is released. U.S. CUSTOMS TRAINING PROGRAM -------------- ¶6. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided training to 25 officers of Ghana's Customs, Excise and Preventative Service (CEPS) April 3 - 7. The session focused on airport operations and fraudulent document identification. This is the first in a series of sessions CBP plans to provide in order to help CEPS meet its obligations as a member of the World Customs Organization. Future sessions will focus on ACCRA 00000836 002.2 OF 002 ports and land border crossings. Ambassador Bridgewater presided over the graduation ceremonies along with CEPS Commissioner Major-General Baiden April 7. Both the opening and closing of the seminar received nation media attention. Post also arranged with the Customs trainers to repeat and expand the fraudulent document detection session for Ghana immigration officials and Police, as well as for Consular Officers from other missions that have airlines servicing Accra. OECD/GoG MEETINGS ON THE PARIS DECLARATION -------------- ¶7. An OECD team visited Ghana February 28 to field test a questionnaire and technical guidance for monitoring implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which the OECD intends to issue to all countries that signed the Declaration. The team met with GoG representatives and donors over three days to solicit feedback on the questionnaire. USAID participated in the meetings and recommended several ways to clarify definitions in the guidance and strengthen the questionnaire, which would serve as a tool for measuring progress in implementing the Paris Declaration. LANIER