Asantehene leaves for Britain Today

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, leaves Accra today Friday, March 30 for a one-week visit to Britain.

The visit is at the invitation of the International Cocoa Organisation (ICO) to address their general meeting on Monday, April 2.

Mr Ernest Sarhene, Head of Protocol at the Manhyia Palace told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Tuesday that the Asantehene will deliver the keynote address at the meeting which is under the theme "Sustaining the Global Cocoa Economy in the new Millennium".

This is Asantehene's second official visit outside the country since his ascending to the Golden Stool two years ago.

He made the first trip to the United Kingdom at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in May last year.

Otumfuo Addresses ICCO in London

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, will address the Council meeting of the International Cocoa Organization in London on Monday 2nd April. The King of the Asante Region of Ghana, one of the cocoa producing regions in Ghana, arrives in London on Saturday 31st March specially to deliver the ICCO address, the first ever to be delivered by the Asante Monarchy.

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) was established in 1973 to administer the first International Cocoa Agreement, that of 1972 and its successor Agreements of 1975, 1980, 1986 and 1993. The Agreements were concluded among the governments of cocoa-producing and cocoa-consuming countries, under the auspices of the United Nations. Membership of the 1993 Agreement comprises 42 countries and one inter-governmental organisation, representing over 80% of world cocoa production and around 70% of world cocoa consumption. Countries that are not members of the Agreement often participate in meetings as observers.

The ICCO is, therefore, the main world forum for the gathering and dissemination of information on cocoa, for the promotion of cocoa research and studies of the economics of cocoa production, consumption and distribution and for the encouragement of development projects concerning cocoa. In this connection, the ICCO Advisory Group on the World Cocoa Economy has held several conferences on key issues.