Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has disclosed that the 2024/2025 cocoa production season, which begins in September 2024, will be self-financed.
COCOBOD has used offshore borrowing to finance cocoa imports through its cocoa syndication programme for the past 32 years. However, the organization’s strategy is changing to lessen its reliance on outside funding.
Speaking at a press briefing, CEO of Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, explained that this new approach is likely to save approximately $150 million.
“32 years we have learned our lessons, and we think that it is high time, you know, we move ourselves from the offshore international financial markets and then finance the crop ourselves here. So that is exactly what we are going to do.”
” It also comes with a lot of budgetary benefits. If you are able to do that, because this year we set our fees for 1.5 billion dollars. We were going to look for 1.5 billion dollars, and looking at interest rates last year, which were over eight percent, and other costs, it means that we can save more than 150 million dollars by just not going. The decision not to go offshore alone can save us all that money and we need that money for other purposes.”
Story by: Alexander Kuuku Osei-Baidoo | univers.ug.edu.gh
