Parliament has approved a US$1.3 billion cocoa syndicated loan.
The facility, which is the largest soft commodity deal in sub-Saharan Africa, will be used to finance cocoa purchases and related operational activities in the 2022/2023 crop season.
Since the 1992/1993 crop season, COCOBOD has consistently and successfully, through the pre-export syndicated finance facility, obtained a receivables-backed syndicated loan each year from the international money market to finance its cocoa purchases.
The approval is an annual procedure from the house that makes funds available for the Ghana Cocoa Board to carry out its mandate in the cocoa value chain in the country.
Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Kwaku Kwarteng, said the Committee had carefully considered the agreement and the request and found that the syndicated facility was integral to the successful management of operations related to the purchasing, quality assurance, storage, and export of cocoa by the COCOBOD.
The Committee noted that for the 2022/2023 crop season, cocoa production had conservatively forecasted to be 850,000 tonnes, which was based on the trend of cocoa production over the past years and relevant agronomic practices being adopted by COCOBOD.
Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, said the COCOBOD had a bad balance sheet with the security rate going up.
He said the sustainability of the cocoa industry depended on the production and that COCOBOD needed the money to survive industry-wise.