This is the counter argument. By protecting an inefficient sector you make it harder for every other sector to operate. If Ghana moves to protect their Chocolate manufacturing that will likely come at the expense of their Cocoa growers.

The best way seems to start with low level work and move up the chain.

> that will likely come at the expense of their Cocoa growers.

It'll be interesting to see. Making good chocolate certainly isn't easy. Nor is compliance with food quality standards..

But if they control enough of the chocolate production, I guess foreign manufacturers may choose to setup a processing factory in Ghana.

Of course, it's not without risk. Foreign manufacturers could perhaps invest into farming equipment to make neighboring Ivory Coast more productive at farming cocoa..

But doing this certainly creates uncertainty and instability, which is rarely good.

I think the quality of beans in Ghana is improving but they are still significantly behind Central and South America. As someone who worked making high quality chocolate in the US, people are less likely to invest in exploitative cacoa production just as much as low quality beans.

If you are buying an $9 chocolate bar, in addition to quality, consumers are also looking to support fair business models. So improving the labor conditions, something many European companies seem to show little interest in, is as much a part of finding better partners as increasing quality. And more and more, these issues are just as important as quantity.

This. People in the US love to talk about how sad it is when mom and pop groceries stores close but people are just voting with their wallets.