- CMC Targets Faster Cocoa Exports, Lower Logistics Delays with Round-the-Clock Operations
The Cocoa Marketing Company Ghana Limited has launched round-the-clock operations across critical sections of the country’s cocoa logistics chain, seeking to reduce truck waiting times, accelerate deliveries to processors and align exports more closely with shipping schedules.
The initiative, organised around three operational pillars, offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24, represents one of the more practical applications of the government’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme within one of Ghana’s most important export industries.
CMC Managing Director Wisdom Kofi Dogbey said the reform is intended to address longstanding inefficiencies created by the mismatch between conventional working hours at cocoa take-over centres and the increasingly continuous operations of ports, shipping companies, transporters and processing factories.
“The world does not stop at 5 p.m. or 4 p.m., and neither should Ghana’s cocoa ambition,” Mr Dogbey said at the launch.
Historically, CMC’s take-over centres in Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi have largely operated within conventional working hours. Cocoa trucks arriving late could therefore be forced to wait until the following day, while inspection, documentation and other processes could similarly be delayed even when other parts of the logistics chain remained operational.
For a commodity that remains central to Ghana’s merchandise exports and foreign-exchange earnings, such delays can accumulate into higher logistics costs, congestion and slower conversion of physical cocoa stocks into export receipts.
Under Offload 24, CMC will receive cocoa delivered by Licensed Buying Companies around the clock, with the objective of reducing queues, waiting periods and congestion at operational facilities.
Load 24 will extend the movement of cocoa to domestic processing factories beyond traditional working hours, potentially allowing processors to use installed capacity more efficiently and reduce interruptions caused by delayed raw-material deliveries.
The third component, Export 24, will extend inspection, stuffing, sealing, documentation and shipment preparation to enable CMC’s operations to respond more closely to vessel schedules and activity at the ports.
CMC says the three pillars are intended as operational commitments rather than slogans — an important distinction as Ghana seeks to translate the wider 24-Hour Economy programme into measurable productivity gains.
Mr Dogbey stressed that round-the-clock operations do not mean individual employees working continuously for 24 hours. Productive activity will instead be organised through shifts, allowing infrastructure, equipment and human resources to generate economic value for longer periods.
Warehouses, trucks and other logistics infrastructure carry substantial fixed costs regardless of how many hours they are used. Longer operating periods could therefore improve asset utilisation and reduce the effective cost of moving each tonne of cocoa, provided additional staffing, security and energy costs are properly managed.
The reform comes at a sensitive moment for Ghana’s cocoa economy. Recent projections point to production of about 650,000 tonnes for the 2026/27 season, approximately 13.00% below earlier expectations, increasing pressure on the industry to generate more value and efficiency from the crop that is available.
With cocoa output under pressure from disease, weather conditions and other structural constraints, improvements in post-farmgate efficiency are among the areas where industry managers can achieve relatively immediate gains without waiting for new trees, rehabilitation programmes or productivity interventions to increase production.
Faster and more flexible deliveries to local processing companies could allow factories to manage inventories and production schedules more effectively, although the eventual impact will depend on cocoa availability, financing conditions and the economics of domestic processing.
“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,” Mr Dogbey said.
The initiative nevertheless introduces an important coordination challenge. CMC operating 24 hours will deliver limited benefits if adjoining components of the supply chain, including port gates, Customs procedures, security services, transport operators and shipping lines, are unable to synchronise their operations.
Mr Dogbey has therefore encouraged Licensed Buying Companies to take advantage of evening delivery windows and processing companies to schedule trucks beyond daylight hours. Shipping lines have similarly been urged to provide gate-in windows consistent with CMC’s extended operating schedule, while the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and security agencies are expected to support implementation.
Performance will be monitored against indicators including truck turnaround times, cocoa volumes handled, documentation efficiency, shipment performance, safety, quality and broader operational outcomes.
Those metrics will ultimately determine whether the reform succeeds. The economic case for a 24-hour model rests not simply on keeping facilities open for longer, but on whether additional operating hours produce higher throughput, shorter turnaround periods, lower unit costs and faster movement of exports.
CMC also expects the system to improve cash-flow cycles by reducing the period between cocoa receipt, processing and shipment.
That could be particularly significant in an industry with substantial working-capital requirements, where delays in moving stocks can increase financing costs and leave capital tied up in inventory for longer periods.
Mr Dogbey commended the implementation committee chaired by CMC Deputy Managing Director in charge of Operations Jamal Konneh, as well as the company’s Board, management, staff and COCOBOD leadership for supporting the transition.
For Ghana, the initiative provides an early test of whether the 24-Hour Economy can generate productivity gains through more intensive use of existing assets rather than simply extending working hours.
Its success will ultimately be visible at warehouses, processing plants and ports: fewer stationary trucks, shorter documentation times, more reliable factory deliveries and cocoa reaching vessels without avoidable delays.
“Ghana is ready to work. Ghana is ready to export. Ghana is ready to compete. And CMC is ready to play its part,” Mr Dogbey said.
If the model improves efficiency while preserving the quality standards that underpin Ghanaian cocoa’s international reputation, its importance could extend beyond the cocoa industry.
It could provide a practical template for applying the 24-Hour Economy to other export-oriented supply chains where limited operating windows, fragmented logistics and administrative bottlenecks continue to constrain Ghana’s competitiveness.
