The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has rejected suggestions that its decision to raise $1.4 billion from domestic investors to finance cocoa purchases for the 2026/2027 season is the result of being shut out of international financial markets.

The proposed financing, equivalent to about GH¢16.3 billion, represents a shift from COCOBOD’s traditional reliance on international borrowing to pre-finance cocoa purchases.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD in charge of Finance and Administration, Ato Boateng, said the move was a deliberate change in strategy informed by lessons from previous financing arrangements.

He said several international banks had approached COCOBOD about returning to the international market since he assumed office, but the board had opted for a different approach.

“Since I took this position over 18 months ago, I’ve had a lot of international banks coming to Cocoa Board to talk about Cocoa Board re-entering the market at the international level… It is not that we are forced out of the market. Yes, we had a crisis that pushed us out of the market. But beyond the crisis, they came back. And then, given what we also saw, we changed strategy,” he said.

Mr Boateng made the remarks on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, September 28, 2026, in an interview with host Bernard Avle.

He said he had resisted calls to return to international borrowing because of his dissatisfaction with the conduct of some international financiers during COCOBOD’s financial difficulties.

“I don’t like fair-weather friends. You don’t run away from Cocoa Board when we have difficulties, and then when we have weathered those difficulties, then you show up,” he said.

Mr Boateng also cited COCOBOD’s previous reliance on international cocoa buyers to finance purchases through the buyer-financed model.

Under that arrangement, international buyers provided funds through COCOBOD to licensed buying companies (LBCs) to purchase cocoa beans from farmers.

He said the model left Ghana’s cocoa purchasing system vulnerable to fluctuations in international markets.

“When the prices dropped, these international guys moved away from Ghana. They stopped funding the beans. And then they created the problem that we saw,” he said.

COCOBOD subsequently decided to reduce its dependence on international financing and explore domestic sources of funding for cocoa purchases.

“Why would I place my financial strategy on boys and girls that I cannot really rely on?” he asked.

Mr Boateng said COCOBOD later presented its proposed financing strategy to the Ministry of Finance, which subsequently took it to Cabinet. He said Cabinet then approved the board’s move to explore domestic sources of financing.

The new funding plan follows the collapse of COCOBOD’s decade-old syndicated loan arrangement with international banks during the 2023/2024 cocoa season, as well as the failure of a separate arrangement involving international trading houses to pre-finance cocoa purchases last season.

COCOBOD’s operating revenue rose to GH¢48.6 billion in 2025 from GH¢15.8 billion in 2024, while its net profit margin improved from a negative 35.1% to 10.4%.

The proposed domestic financing is expected to support cocoa purchases for the 2026/2027 season, settle outstanding obligations and provide greater stability in financing the cocoa sector.