Ghana’s Cocobod continues efforts to secure syndicated loan for 2023/4 crop season, pending parliamentary approval, regulator stated on Friday.
Having encountered a delay in obtaining a bank loan, it has borrowed an amount ranging between $150 million and $200 million from cocoa traders to fund bean purchases since the commencement of the 2023/24 season.
Every September, the regulatory body of the globe’s second-largest cocoa producer arranges for an international syndicated loan to fund licensed buyers engaged in procuring cocoa from smallholder farmers for export.
Cocobod intends to secure $1.2 billion for the current season, with a planned allocation of $800 million from a consortium of lenders and $400 million from alternative sources, as stated earlier.
“We wish to use this medium to assure our stakeholders that the necessary arrangements have been made to secure enough funding for cocoa purchases for the year under review,” Cocobod said in a statement.