The $600 million syndicated loan from the Africa DevelopmentBank is set to hit the accounts of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in the coming months.
This is according to the Dean of Executive Directors for
Afdb, Bright Okogu.
“It is a process and we are in the finishing stages. We
welcome the decision by the Government of Ghana and COCOBOD to strengthen and
expand the cocoa sector.
“This facility will go a long way to facilitate various
projects being undertaken by the government,” he told the media after a led a
team to visit to the management of COCOBOD in Accra on Thursday.
A meeting held between Directors of the Africa Development
Bank (AfDB) and management of Ghana Cocoa Board ended with both organisations
commit to providing sufficient funding to entrepreneurs in the cocoa value
chain to advance processing of cocoa.
Mr Okogu explained this initiative among other interventions will be captured in the agreement for the 600 million dollars syndicated receivables-backed term loan from the bank to COCOBOD.
Meanwhile, Public Affairs Manager of COCOBOD, Fiifi Boafo says funding and support for entrepreneurs to go into the processing of cocoa as well as the expansion of Ghana’s cocoa market base are key.
COCOBOD will use the facility to raise cocoa harvest per hectare and increase the country;s overall production.
These include financial interventions to increase cocoa
plant fertility, improving irrigation systems, rehabilitating aged and
disease-infected farms.
The funds will also help increase warehouse capacity and
provide support to local cocoa-processing companies.
Ghana’s cocoa sector employs some 800,000 rural families and produces crops worth about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually.
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Source : African Media Agency (AMA)
