Ghana COCOBOD will not raise syndicated loan for 2024/25 season — CEO

Ghana COCOBOD says it will not raise Cocoa-Syndicated Loans for beans purchases in the 2024/25 season, which is expected to open on September 1.

Joseph Boahen Aidoo Chief Executive of COCOBOD, told a media briefing that the Board had decided to finance the purchases domestically.

“Within two years, we’ve learned our lessons, and we think that it’s high time, we wean ourselves from the offshore international financial markets and finance the crop ourselves here. And that’s exactly what we are going to do,” he said.

“The money will come locally; we are going to be self-financing. We have a clear idea of what we are going to do, how much we need and where the money will come from,” he added.

The board also lowered its target for the season to 650,000 tonnes from 810,000 tonnes.

Cocobod had planned to raise 1.5 billion dollars from the international market for the season.

However, Mr Aidoo said that would not happen, considering the almost 150 million dollars in interest payments last year.

“Look at interest rates last year which were over eight percent. 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. So, for the first time in 32 years, we will not go,” he said.

“We were studying the whole situation, and I think we’ve studied it for quite a long time and satisfied ourselves that we have to take a bold measure,” he added

He also dismissed suggestions of a lack of interest from the international markets.