Dr. Randy Abbey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has revealed that the board defaulted on cocoa supply contracts totalling 333,767 tonnes during the 2023/2024 season—an unprecedented development in the institution’s history. In an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV, Monday, February 9, 2026, Dr. Abbey 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.
The undelivered volumes were instead rolled over into subsequent seasons at the original contract price, placing COCOBOD under severe financial strain at a time when global cocoa prices had surged to between US$9,000 and US$12,000 per tonne. As a result, COCOBOD was forced to use higher-priced cocoa to fulfill the rolled-over contracts, incurring significant losses
Dr Abbey said the situation was worsened by the collapse of COCOBOD’s syndicated loan during the 2023–2024 season. Efforts to secure financing for the 2024/2025 season were unsuccessful, as banks failed to respond to the board’s request for proposals, largely due to concerns over cocoa supply constraints. Consequently, the outstanding contracts were again rolled over into the following season, despite having been priced at US$2,600 per tonne.
“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. These were rollovers priced at US$2,600 that we inherited at a time when cocoa prices had shot up,” he said.
“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.” Dr Abbey further disclosed that COCOBOD incurred losses because the producer price paid to farmers during the period stood at about US$3,100 per tonne, exceeding the contract price by roughly US$500 per tonne.
“We even incurred losses because the producer price paid to farmers was US$3,100,” Dr. Abbey noted. He explained that COCOBOD managed to clear about 235,000 tonnes of the outstanding contracts in the first year—nearly two-thirds of the total volume. Still, he emphasized that the shortfall was significant, as the undelivered cocoa represented more than half of Ghana’s estimated annual yield of 600,000 tonnes.
“For every tonne used to service these contracts, there was a shortfall of US$500. And this was not about 30,000 or 50,000 tonnes—we are talking about 333,767 tonnes, more than 50 percent of expected annual production,” he stressed.
Dr. Abbey underscored that the episode illustrates the depth of COCOBOD’s challenges, particularly the combined impact of supply constraints, pricing mismatches, and financing difficulties on its operations
Source: Leticia Osei
