Skillful Ghanaian artisan repurposes cocoa sack into luxury traveling bag

Ghana is widely known as the second-largest exporter of cocoa beans after Ivory Coast, with many chocolate-producing countries depending on the country for quality cocoa beans.

In 2019, Ghana’s cocoa export amounted to US$1.45 billion, which was an increase of 3.2 per cent in comparison to export in the year 2018.

Apart from raw cocoa beans, the country exports cocoa liquor, cocoa paste, cocoa powder and cocoa butter to countries such as the Netherlands, UK, Malaysia and France among others.

But what happens to the cocoa sack carrying the beans after its disposal?

One Ghanaian artisan, Cephas Kwabla Segla, is repurposing used cocoa sacks into luxury traveling bags for both the local and international market.

"In a special request, a customer approached me to design a bag from cocoa sack so I set out to look for the materials and designed it for her. After that, people got excited and fascinated about the design and orders started coming in.”

Today, he designs and exports the bags to several other countries, including the United States of America and Germany.

With a strong passion for the craft industry, Cephas hopes to attract funding to enable him to expand and employ more women.