The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) is advocating the imposition of taxes on the export of raw cashew to encourage more local processing.
Ms. Gifty Klenam, CEO of the authority told the B&FT that: “We believe that exporting the cashew raw doesn’t earn us more revenue. Besides, the foreign exchange that is earned from the export is also not always returned to the country to support the cedi.
As part of our strategy to implement the National Export Strategy of the government, we are considering having a conversation with the appropriate Ministry to surcharge the country's export of raw cashew.”
The price of raw cashew nuts has also soared. A kilogramme of raw cashew nut, which sold on the market for GH¢1.5 in 2013 is now trading for GHC4, representing an increase of 166 percent.
1 GHC = 0.23 USD
source: ghanaweb.com
