A total of 28 banks, made up of four local – Ecobank Ghana limited, Société Générale Ghana Limited, Absa Ghana Limited and Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited – and 24 international financial institutions have participated in this year’s Ghana Cocoa Board syndication loan facility.
The international financial institutions are ABN AMRO Bank NIV, Bank of China Limited London Branch, Cooperative Rabobank UA, DZ Bank, AG Deutsche Zentral-Zenossenscha, FTS Bank, Frankfurt AM MAIN.
The rest include Ghana International Bank Plc, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited London Branch, Mufg Bank Limited, Natixis, Société Générale, and Standard Charted Bank.
The 28 financial institutions provided a loan facility in an amount of US1.3 billion at an interest of 1.75%, which is expected to be paid within seven months period, is projected to help the Board purchase about 900,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for the season.
Unlike previous years, the loan agreement was signed between the parties through virtual means, as a result of the global pandemic, Covid-19.
Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Chief Executive of COCOBOD, on the occasion of the 2020/2021 syndicated loan signing ceremony on Tuesday 29th September 2020, announced this.
“Let me take this opportunity to thank our reliable funding institutions for their continuous trust in the operations of Ghana’s cocoa industry, which has culminated in their ever willingness to pull resources together for our annual syndication,” he said.
He said the loan would be used solely for the purpose for which it has been contracted. According to him, some of the purposes the loan will serve include the implementation of the Productivity Enhancement Programme and other interventions such as the National Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme and Hand Pollination Programme.
Other projects include Mass Pruning Exercise, Mass Spraying Exercise, Free Seedlings Distribution, Subsidised Fertiliser Distribution and the Cocoa Roads Improvement Initiative, to ensure a sustainable cocoa economy and improved socio-economic livelihoods for our cherished farmers.
Mr Aidoo added that in an effort to ensure improved incomes and better livelihoods for farmers, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire introduced the Living Income Differential (LID) pricing mechanism, which has resulted in the addition of a whopping US$400 to the price of every tonne of cocoa sold by the two countries.
Similarly, the producer price for the 2020/2021 crop season has been increased by 28%, which could be translated into GH¢660 per 64 kilogrammes bag of cocoa.
The Board Chairman of COCOBOD, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, on his part, hoped that the country would one day be able to raise the loan from indigenous banks to cater for its needs.
The post COCOBOD raises US$1.3bn syndicate loan at 1.75% interest appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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