COCOBOD Unveils $1.2bn Domestic Securities Model in New York to End Foreign Syndicated Loan Dependency

NEW YORK / ACCRA — Speaking before sovereign institutional investors and agricultural financiers at the Africa Cocoa Finance & Investment Forum (ACFIF) in New York, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Ransford Anertey Abbey, formally unveiled Ghana's autonomous cocoa purchasing model.

Under the new financial structure, COCOBOD has phased out its 32-year reliance on foreign syndicated debt facilities from European commercial banks, which had burdened the domestic industry with onerous currency risk and high foreign-currency interest charges. Instead, Cocoa Capital PLC—a specialized domestic debt vehicle—is issuing GH¢16.3 billion in asset-backed notes guaranteed by domestic cocoa bean stocks and warehouse receipts.

Dr. Abbey affirmed that this financial sovereign transition ensures that local Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) receive immediate liquidity in Ghana Cedis, preventing cash shortages in rural purchasing sheds while funding the national mandate to process at least 50% of raw harvest beans locally.

International rating agencies have welcomed the move, noting that shifting cocoa procurement debt into local currency shields Ghana's external debt balance from foreign exchange shocks while creating attractive high-yield paper for domestic pension trustees.