Ghana Exports Climb 62% in First Quarter as Oil Shipments Start

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Ghana's total exports increased 62 percent to $3 billion in the first quarter of 2011, boosted by shipments of oil from its nascent energy industry, Bank of Ghana Governor Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said.

Oil exports were worth $484.2 million, he told reporters in Accra, the capital, today.

Ghana, the world's biggest cocoa grower, started production of oil for export late last year. Daily output from the Jubilee oil field currently stands at 70,000 barrels, according to Tullow Oil Plc.

Earnings from cocoa in the first three months rose 26 percent to $859.4 million, while gold shipments reached $1.2 billion in the three months to March, from $787 million, Amissah-Arthur said. Ghana is Africa's second biggest gold producer, after South Africa.

Higher exports helped cut the West African nation's current account deficit to $220.2 million in the first quarter, compared with $565.8 million a year earlier, he said.