The Technical Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Frederick Amissah, has disclosed that Ghana’s cocoa sector was heavily indebted when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government assumed office in January 2025.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Amissah noted that the debts had significantly harmed the industry over the years.

"We took over a cocoa industry which was a debt-ridden, a cocoa industry with its regulator in debt of over GHS32 billion, in essence, what that means is that, the regulator itself was hampered in the delivery of its regulatory mandates."

"For about 30 years, we went for the international markets, syndicated markets, but for the last couple of years we were not able to because of the nature or the state of the regulator what it means is that we have exceeded the role local players were playing. We were not able to raise the funding to fund them," he added.

Mr Amissah also revealed that foreigners continue to play a dominant role in the transportation of cocoa and in determining FOB prices, a situation he described as a major concern for the sector’s long-term sustainability.

"Currently, foreigners or foreign entities which plays a heavy role in the transportation or in the value chain of our cocoa which post a danger because one day if they bag their bags and go, how do we manage our cocoa." He added "Now we also came to meet an FOB price."

He, however, stressed that the current administration is working diligently to restore stability and prioritise the welfare of farmers.