We inherited an insolvent company – Randy Abbey paints grim picture of Cocoa Board’s finances

Randy Abbey, Chairperson of the Ghana Cocoa Board, spoke about serious issues. He said the current administration inherited a Cocoa Board near collapse. The board is burdened with debt and poor contracts.

In an interview with Keminni Amanor on Hot Issues, Abbey stated, “We inherited a Cocoa Board that could be described as insolvent.” He noted that the board owes nearly GH₵33 billion. Some debts date back two to four years.

Abbey mentioned that the Cocoa Board committed to road contracts worth GH₵21 billion. He called this amount unrealistic given their financial situation. “There’s no way you’ll be able to afford to spend GH₵21 billion on roads,” he lamented.

He also criticized signing road contracts in US dollars since 2019. This practice worsened the financial crisis for local contractors. “We owe agrochemical suppliers over $400 million,” he added. Some agrochemicals have not even arrived at their stores.

Abbey explained that Cocoa Board imports goods on a CIF basis. This means payment is due once suppliers deliver goods to the port. Even if goods are not cleared, payment obligations begin.

He reported over 200 containers of jute sacks and agrochemicals are stuck at ports. The National Investigations Bureau is looking into their whereabouts.

Abbey highlighted wasteful procurement practices by the board. They bought more jute sacks despite having large stockpiles already stored. “At the end of the 2021/2022 season, we had over 94,000 bales in storage,” he said.

Despite this, they procured another 75,000 bales costing over $45 million. The next year saw another order for 75,000 bales despite existing stockpiles. “That year, we used just over 30,000 sacks,” he noted.

The situation worsened in December 2024 when they issued letters of credit worth $48 million for new bales. They had over 70,000 bales in storage and 110,000 uncleared at ports then.

“I can’t terminate that contract; it’s irrevocable,” Abbey explained. Once a supplier presents a bill of lading, payment is made automatically. “How do you run a company like this?” he asked.