The Minority in Parliament has criticized the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) over its decision to transition to self-financing for the 2024/2025 cocoa crop season, starting in September 2024.
On Tuesday, August 20, COCOBOD’s CEO, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, announced that the organization will not borrow from foreign Banks for the 2024/2025 cocoa crop season. He explained that this new approach is expected to save an estimated $150 million.
For the past 32 years, COCOBOD has relied on offshore borrowing to finance cocoa purchases through its cocoa syndication programme. However, the organization is shifting its strategy to reduce dependence on external funds.
In a statement dated Wednesday, August 21, Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson argued that COCOBOD lacks creditworthiness and described its decision as “false, unmeritorious, contrived, and face-saving.”
“This is to hide the fact that COCOBOD is no longer creditworthy and that a 32-year-old tradition, which has consistently cushioned and provided Ghana’s economy with the most reliable foreign exchange to support the Ghana Cedi, has been destroyed by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.”
The Minority declared that the country’s cocoa sector is in a state of crisis, necessitating competent management and a new direction for the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
They accused the government of mismanaging and destroying the cocoa sector, emphasizing the need for urgent corrective action.
“Ghana’s cocoa sector is in crisis and needs urgent attention, competent management and a new direction. The NPP government has completely mismanaged and destroyed the cocoa sector.
“After seven years of decline in production and consecutive losses, the government has shown clearly that it does not have the competence to manage the cocoa sector which has since independence been the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy.”
The Minority also claimed that International Banks in June 2024 rejected the Ghana Cocoa Board’s request for a prepayment loan to finance the purchase of cocoa.