The Acting CEO of Ghana Tourism Development Company Limited (GTDC), Professor Kobby Mensah, has called for a structured approach to valuing Ghana’s cultural assets, including cocoa, folklore, festivals, and artefacts.  

He argued that while Ghana had benefited from cocoa’s economic contributions, it lacked formal recognition of its cultural and historical worth. 

A statement issued by Prof. Mensah and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday proposed a formula to determine the value of a cocoa bean, summarised as the Sum of the Total Use of Cocoa (STU), the Sum of the Total Use of Cocoa, denoting the number of years cocoa had existed, and several years projecting its future existence.  

“…This formula aims to provide a quantifiable basis for assessing cocoa’s significance beyond its market price,” it said. 

“… Cocoa is more than just an economic product—it is deeply woven into the cultural and historical fabric of the country.”  

The statement commended the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts and the Ghana Tourism Authority for promoting cocoa as a valuable cultural asset through the National Chocolate Week celebration. 

It explained that the GTDC’s strategic vision under Prof Mensah’s leadership would focus on four key investment and development strands. 

These are; Investment in Tourism Physical Infrastructure, Developing world-class tourism sites and facilities; Investment in Human Capital, Strengthening capacity building within the tourism sector; Investment in Cultural Assets, Promoting and preserving Ghana’s rich cultural heritage, and Investment in Technology and Innovation, Leveraging digital transformation to enhance tourism experiences. 

The National Chocolate Week initiative aimed to increase local consumption of cocoa products, highlighting Ghana’s leadership in the global cocoa industry, and creating new economic opportunities for local businesses.  

It said: “By linking tourism with cocoa promotion, Ghana seeks to strengthen its brand identity on the global stage.” 

Prof Mensah’s advocacy for a structured valuation of Ghana’s cultural assets aligned with national and global conversations on heritage conservation and sustainable tourism.  

As Ghana innovates in tourism and cultural preservation, industry leaders and policymakers are calling for strategic approaches to ensure the country’s heritage assets are preserved and maximised for long-term socio-economic benefits, the statement noted.