EXPORTERS of shea-nut have been told to register with the Ghana Cocoa Board and obtain a licence for their business.

Anthony Fofie, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board who gave the advice at the launch of the 2012 Northern Ghana Investment Conference and the Northern Business Excellent Awards inAccraWednesday, noted that the shea sector contributed significantly to poverty reduction and had prospects of yielding higher profits.

“Ghana’s shea is highly valued by the international buyers on account of its high oil content and it would therefore be appropriate that all shea-nut exporters duly register their businesses to facilitate their smooth operation,” he stated.

According to him, this was necessary since shea exports had ranked highest in terms of value over the last five years, adding that it was for this reason that Government approved the establishment of a Shea Unit within the Ghana Cocoa Board in 2011 to see to the implementation of programmes that would revamp the industry.

Also, he said a national steering committee on shea was inaugurated in December 2011 to serve as a governing body to facilitate the development of the shea industry and serve as a precursor to the formation of a shea board in future.

“In a bid to support the value addition of shea on a large scale, Government and COCOBOD have supported the Produce Buying Company (PBC) Limited to establish a shea-nut processing plant at Buipe in the Northern region ofGhana. This is expected to be commissioned soon to complement the small-scale processing activities by the rural women. It will further enhance rural incomes in addition to its positive impact onGhana’s economy.”

Mr Fofie continued that with improved processing technologies, backed by a conscious national effort, currently Ghana could scale up the quantity and quality of shea traded on the market with improved prices and incomes at all levels of the shea value chain.

The COCOBOD CEO stressed that there were lots of business opportunities for investors in the shea industry for the mutual benefit of producers, processors, exporters and other players within the value chain.

Mutawakil Riyad, Chief Executive Officer of Ridmut Consult, on his part, noted that the 2012 Conference and the Awards had been developed under the theme ‘Discovering the resource potentials ofNorthern Ghanato attract investments for economic growth and accelerated development.” It is aimed at promoting investment and trade and further recognize business excellence across all sectors, private, public and charity inNorthern Ghana.

The event would serve as a unique platform to achieve the objectives of the Savannah Accelerated Development Programme (SADA), an ambitious programme aimed at transforming the Northern part ofGhanaeconomically and socially with emphasis on agricultural development, industrialization, economic and socially infrastructure.

The Northern Ghana Investment Conference is to be held from June 12-16, 2012, at the VVIP Lounge of the Tamale Sports Stadium.