Ghana’s cocoa marketing board, Cocobod, reported a profit of 2.3 billion cedis ($149.84 million) for the 2022/23 fiscal year, according to a report from the country’s auditor general obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.
The report highlighted that this profit marks Cocobod’s first gain after enduring six consecutive years of losses.
Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, has been working to restructure its $30 billion debt, including cocoa sector liabilities, to implement a $3 billion, three-year International Monetary Fund program and address its severe economic crisis.
Last month, Ghana reached a deal with its official creditor committee and agreed in principle with two bondholder groups to restructure approximately $13 billion of its debt, moving closer to completing the debt overhaul.
These achievements followed a 2023 domestic debt exchange program, where various bonds, including cocoa bills—short-term securities used by Cocobod for liquidity—were swapped for long-term instruments with lower yields.
Cocobod “ended the year with a profit of 2.3 billion cedi, compared with a loss of 4.2 billion cedi in 2022,” said the auditor general report on public corporations and boards yet to be published.
Cocobod’s deputy CEO, Ray Ankrah, attributed the recovery primarily to the debt restructuring efforts.
“There were huge financing costs; we were paying something in the range of 34% but it’s now down to 13% (after the restructuring),” he said.
Ankrah noted that rising global cocoa prices, higher bean sales, currency stability, and improved cost management also contributed to the recovery.
According to the audit report, Cocobod’s revenue grew by 41.7% to 17.7 billion cedis in 2023, driven by increased sales of cocoa beans.
The report indicated that Cocobod would continue to face challenges in meeting its short-term financial obligations due to inadequate liquidity.
Cocoa prices have more than doubled this year, largely due to poor harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together account for 60% of the world’s cocoa production.