The Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo says that the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) will not be raising the annual syndicated loan to finance the purchases of cocoa beans for the 2024/25 crop season which begins on September 1.
This marks the first time in 32 years that the cocoa sector manager and regulator will be self-financing its major operation, breaking away from its reliance on the syndicated loan from mainly foreign banks to finance the purchase of cocoa beans.
“For the first time in the history of COCOBOD, we want to wean ourselves from the offshore syndication.
“We want to self-finance this year’s cocoa purchases. Since 1992, COCOBOD has always gone offshore to borrow from a consortium of banks and 32 years is quite a good time for any human being to learn his or her lessons,” Mr Aidoo told a news conference in Accra,
He said that the COCOBOD had been contemplating weaning itself off the offshore syndication since last year and now thought it was time to take that bold step.
The Daily Graphic quoted Mr Aidoo as saying that the decision not to access the loan this year would save the board about $150 million which it would have paid as interest on the loans in addition to expenses to be incurred to organise a road show.
It added that following the country’s debt restructuring activities and some global developments, interest on the cocoa syndicated loan went up last year to over eight per cent, the highest in decades.
“This year, we were planning to raise $1.5 billion, looking at interest rates last year which was over eight per cent and other costs, it means we can save about $150 million by just not going so for the first time, we will not go,” Mr Aidoo said.
GIK/APA