The CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, has disclosed that the board was unable to supply a significant volume of cocoa under existing export contracts during the 2023/2024 cocoa season, a development that placed immense financial pressure on the institution.
He explained that the cocoa had been sold to buyers at an average price of about US$2,600 per tonne but could not be delivered as agreed, resulting in the contracts being rolled over into subsequent seasons at the same prices.
This occurred when global cocoa prices surged to between US$9,000 and US$12,000 per tonne, prompting COCOBOD to honour older contracts at higher prices, resulting in heavy losses.
Speaking on Channel One TV on Monday, February 9, 2026, Dr Abbey said, “In 2023/2024, COCOBOD failed to honour 333,767 tonnes of cocoa that it had sold to buyers at an average of US$2,600. It could not supply them — the first time in the history of COCOBOD.”
He added that the situation was worsened by the collapse of the board’s syndicated loan and the inability to secure financing for the 2024/2025 season.
“Cocoa prices were then at US$12,000, US$11,000, US$10,000 and US$9,000. That was also when the syndicated loan collapsed. In 2024/2025, COCOBOD issued a request for proposals and the banks did not respond because they did not believe the cocoa could be supplied, so the contracts were rolled over again at US$2,600,” he said.
Dr Abbey further revealed that COCOBOD incurred additional losses because the producer price paid to farmers stood at about US$3,100 per tonne, exceeding the contract price by roughly US$500 per tonne.
“For every tonne used to service these contracts, you had a shortfall of about US$500. And we are not talking about 30,000 or 50,000 tonnes.”
“We are talking about 333,767 tonnes — more than 50 per cent of expected annual production,” he noted, adding that although about 235,000 tonnes were cleared in the first year, the episode highlights the depth of the challenges confronting the cocoa sector.
