Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has revealed that the board suffered a loss of GH¢2 billion in 2021, primarily attributed to the decline in the international market price of cocoa.
During his appearance before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, Mr. Aidoo highlighted the significant drop of over 30 percent in the global cocoa price in recent years as a major contributing factor to the substantial loss incurred.
He further pointed out that challenges such as smuggling and illegal mining (galamsey) exacerbated the situation. However, Mr. Aidoo assured that plans were in place to address these challenges and implement strategies to mitigate further losses.
“Mr. Chairman, we are on the path of a turnaround. COCOBOD’s financial situation is dictated by the international market price, that’s the world cocoa price, and we all know that from 2017 to the date in question, the price of cocoa in the world market has collapsed by 30 percent. And in 2020, that is also when we had our highest production,” Mr. Aidoo explained.
He elaborated, “So when prices collapsed at the time when we had increased yield, the direct cost and inventory go up whereas the revenue generated goes down. That is what explains the huge deficit for the particular year. Essentially, yes, we had record production, but the prices at the international market did not favor us.”
However, Mr. Murtala Mohammed, a Member of PAC, called for Mr. Boahen Aidoo’s resignation over the decline in cocoa production. The National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Tamale Central criticized Mr. Aidoo for allegedly failing to address the decline in cocoa production and falling short of the projected targets.
