Ghana’s cocoa export chain is moving into a new phase as the Cocoa Marketing Company (Ghana) Limited (CMC) rolls out a 24-hour operating model designed to move cocoa faster from buying companies to processors, ports and international markets.

The initiative, built around Offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24, forms part of CMC’s contribution to President John Dramani Mahama’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme.

CMC Managing Director Wisdom Kofi Dogbey launched the new framework with support from the company’s Board and Management, COCOBOD, government officials and stakeholders across Ghana’s cocoa industry.

The goal is straightforward: reduce the delays that can occur when one part of the cocoa supply chain closes for the day while trucks, ports, shipping companies and other logistics operators are still working.

“The world does not stop at 5 p.m. or 4 p.m., and neither should Ghana’s cocoa ambition,” Dogbey said.

Why CMC is changing the way it operates

For years, major CMC Take-Over Centres in Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi have largely operated within conventional working hours.

That structure could leave trucks arriving later in the day waiting until the next morning before cocoa could be received or processed. Documentation and other export-related activities could also be delayed even when ports, shipping lines and hauliers remained operational.

CMC believes extending its working system through multiple shifts can help remove some of these bottlenecks.

The company is not asking employees to work continuously for 24 hours. Instead, operations will be organised across shifts so that important parts of the cocoa supply chain can remain active beyond the traditional working day.

How Offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24 will work

Under Offload 24, CMC will be able to receive cocoa from Licensed Buying Companies around the clock.

The company expects this to reduce truck queues, shorten waiting times and ease congestion at its facilities.

Load 24 will focus on supplying cocoa to local processing factories outside normal working hours. This could give processors greater flexibility and help them make better use of their installed production capacity.

The third component, Export 24, extends activities such as cocoa inspection, stuffing, sealing, documentation and shipment preparation beyond the traditional workday.

This means export preparations can be better aligned with vessel schedules and port operations instead of having to stop because the conventional working day has ended.

According to Dogbey, the three programmes are more than just names attached to the government’s 24-hour economy agenda.

They are intended to solve practical problems within Ghana’s cocoa logistics system.

“A chain cannot move faster than its slowest link. For too long, at certain times of the day, that link has been us. This season, we remove that constraint,” he said.

What the 24-hour model could mean for Ghana’s cocoa industry

Cocoa remains one of Ghana’s most important export commodities, meaning delays within the supply chain can affect processors, exporters, shipping schedules and ultimately the country’s ability to move cocoa efficiently to the international market.

CMC believes the new system can shorten the time between receiving cocoa, supplying processors and preparing beans for export.

It could also provide more flexibility to domestic cocoa-processing companies and allow existing warehouses, transport networks and port infrastructure to be used for longer periods each day.

The company sees this as part of a broader effort to improve productivity without necessarily requiring the immediate construction of entirely new infrastructure.

Instead, Ghana would be getting more economic activity out of assets it already has.

Performance will be measured

CMC says the success of the programme will not simply be judged by how long its facilities remain open.

The company plans to track indicators including truck turnaround times, volumes handled, documentation efficiency, shipment performance, safety, cocoa quality and overall operational performance.

Licensed Buying Companies are also being encouraged to take advantage of evening delivery windows, while processing companies are being urged to schedule trucks beyond daylight hours where possible.

Shipping lines, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, security agencies and other organisations within the cocoa logistics chain will also be expected to coordinate their operations with the expanded CMC schedule.

For the initiative to work effectively, CMC believes the wider ecosystem must move together.

Supporting local cocoa processing

One potentially important part of the new model is the support it could provide to Ghana’s domestic cocoa-processing industry.

If factories can receive cocoa outside conventional working hours, processors may be able to organise production more efficiently and reduce periods where machinery or production capacity is underutilised because raw materials are delayed.

This fits into the wider ambition of improving Ghana’s cocoa value chain beyond simply exporting raw beans.

CMC expects the programme to support additional economic activity while improving the country’s competitiveness in the global cocoa market.

A test of Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy in practice

The CMC initiative provides one of the clearest examples of what the government’s 24-Hour Economy could look like at the operational level.

Rather than every business remaining open all day, the model focuses on sectors where longer operating hours can improve productivity, reduce bottlenecks and support exports.

For CMC, that means making sure cocoa can be received when trucks arrive, supplied to factories when processors need it and prepared for export according to shipping schedules.

The implementation committee responsible for bringing the programme into operation is chaired by CMC Deputy Managing Director in charge of Operations, Jamal Konneh.

Dogbey also credited CMC’s Board, Management, staff and COCOBOD leadership for helping move the initiative from planning to implementation.

“Ghana is ready to work. Ghana is ready to export. Ghana is ready to compete. And CMC is ready to play its part,” he said.

The rollout of Offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24 now puts the focus on execution.

If the extended operating model successfully cuts waiting times, improves coordination with ports and shipping companies and moves cocoa to processors and export markets faster, it could become a practical example of how Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy strategy can translate into measurable productivity gains.

For Ghana’s cocoa sector, the bigger story is therefore not simply that CMC will operate for longer hours.

It is whether those extra hours can help move one of the country’s most valuable exports faster, more efficiently and with fewer bottlenecks from warehouse to world market.