Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has disclosed that the previous administration he took over from secured. $1.8 billion in 2016.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr. Aidoo, while sharing the significant financial challenges he encountered when he took office in January 2017, disclosed that despite this there were no funds left when he assumed leadership of Cocobod.
According to Mr. Aidoo, the money had been spent on purchasing cocoa and covering other operational costs.
“They bought about 600,000 metric tonnes before we came in. With cocoa, the peak harvest period is October, November, December, and January. So within the first quarter of the season, from October to December 2016, the previous administration bought over 600,000 metric tonnes,” he explained.
“When we assumed office, there was no money, meanwhile, we had to buy cocoa till the end of the season from January to September,” he continued.
This left Cocobod in a precarious position, needing to continue cocoa purchases without any available funds.
Faced with this daunting task, Mr. Aidoo and his team sought assistance from the Bank of Ghana.
“We were forced to go to the Bank of Ghana to borrow. Within that period, we bought over 300,000 metric tonnes and we had to pay the farmers, we had to pay for haulage, the buyer’s margin, and operational costs,” he said.
The Bank of Ghana acted as an intermediary between Cocobod and consolidated banks, facilitating a loan of over GH₵2 billion to keep operations running.
The cocoa industry in Ghana has been beset by numerous challenges, including adverse weather conditions, bean diseases, and illegal gold mining activities that displace cocoa farms.
Additionally, Ghanaian farmers have been smuggling more beans to neighboring countries to sell them at higher prices than those offered by the state purchasing price, further diminishing the available crop for delivery in Ghana.
Recent reports indicate that Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, is considering delaying the delivery of up to 350,000 tons of beans to the next season due to poor crop yields.
This situation has led chocolate makers worldwide to raise prices for consumers, as the value of cocoa has more than doubled this year following a third consecutive year of poor harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together account for 60% of global production.