The Ghana Cocoa Board recently completed the agreement for a 1.3-billion-dollar syndicated loan in a signing ceremony held in Paris at La Défense. The loan guarantees the purchase of Ghanaian cocoa beans for the international market and the funds are used to improve cocoa farming in Ghana in the form of infrastructure in agriculture, educational facilities and also ensures that the farmers are promptly paid for their labour. The facility is supported by a consortium of twenty-four banks from Asia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Ghana and includes banks such as Société Général, NedBank, Ghana International Bank and MUFG Bank.
In a speech given at the event, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Hon. Joseph Boahen Aidoo stated that the agreement “contributes to the sustenance of the incomes of over 800,000 farmer families and the empowerment of their livelihoods. Participating banks should see themselves, therefore, as making a contribution towards improving the economy and thereby, supporting the government in its developmental efforts.”
At the ceremony were representatives of the Government of Ghana, COCOBOD, Ghana Embassy in France and the twenty-four banks involved in the agreement who signed on behalf of their institutions.
