Most any time Black entrepreneurs venture into a business that uses raw supplies from Black-owned sources, there is the opportunity to activate and celebrate mutual gain. That’s a big part of what makes Kimberly and Priscilla Addison’s new “57 Chocolate” company applaudable. They will use homegrown Ghana cocoa—a primary source of raw cocoa on which the global chocolate industry depends—to enter the $100 billion chocolate production industry in which Black people barely participate.
What makes the Addison sisters’ company even more significant is that they are launching at a time when Ghana cocoa exports to foreign countries are coming to an end. Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently announced an impending shift in Ghana’s historical export relationship with foreign buyers—who pay little for cocoa yet profit big. On February 28, 2021, while visiting Switzerland—the “Swiss Cocoa” capital of the world—President Akufo-Addo gave notice that Ghana will begin processing more of its cocoa, and no longer export the raw product to Switzerland. The President’s announcement marks a historic shift between Ghana and Switzerland’s export-import relationship. The change is intended to improve Ghana’s economic sovereignty.
Click here to learn more about “57 Chocolate,” a company helping to advance Ghana’s chocolate production industry. The company represents the beginning of a larger and perhaps sweeter story about the flavor of self-reliance.
To hear an excerpt from the notable speech President Akufo-Addo delivered in Switzerland, click here.