Ghana's state cocoa marketing and management institution; subject of reform efforts including new pricing mechanisms guaranteeing farmers 70% FOB price and transition to domestic financing.
… The new operational framework, launched by the Managing Director of CMC, Wisdom Kofi Dogbey, with the support of senior government officials, the CMC Board and Management, COCOBOD and key cocoa-industry stakeholders, will extend critical cocoa operations beyond conventional worki …
… The launch brought together representatives of government, COCOBOD, Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs), cocoa processors, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Meridian Port Services, the Ghana Revenue Authority, shipping lines, hauliers, international cocoa buyers, the Quality C …
… The NDC, he said, adopted a different approach by establishing GoldBod to operate more or less like COCOBOD, with responsibility for buying and exporting gold, particularly from artisanal and small-scale miners. …
… s within state-owned enterprises, which he argued have imposed a considerable cost on the economy over the years. “Over the last 15, 20 years, between 2.5% to almost 3.2% of our GDP is lost to the inefficiencies of state-owned enterprises alone, including ECG and then Cocoa Board …
… Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 8, Prof Bokpin said Ghana has, over the past 15 to 20 years, lost between 2.5% and 3.2% of its GDP to inefficiencies in state-owned enterprises, including ECG and COCOBOD. …
… mance of state-owned enterprises, which he argued have imposed a significant cost on the economy over many years. “Over the last 15, 20 years, between 2.5% to almost 3.2% of our GDP is lost to the inefficiencies of state-owned enterprises alone, including ECG and then Cocoa Board …
… o a mining area without proper authorisation should be punished, we will all embrace that,” he said. “However, if you are saying that a farmer who changes a cocoa farm into a rubber or citrus plantation can be jailed for up to 20 years, then that is draconian.” Read also: COCOBOD …
… The Ministry of Finance’s February reform statement envisaged domestic cocoa bonds and a revolving financing structure, while the Mid-Year Review subsequently outlined a new COCOBOD legislative framework designed to restore long-term financial sustainability and operational effic …
The Cocoa Marketing Company has launched a 24-hour operational model to improve cocoa movement across Ghana's logistics and export value chain, as part of President Mahama's 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme. The initiative, structured around three pillars—Offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24—extends critical cocoa operations beyond conventional working hours at Take-Over Centers in Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi.
The Cocoa Marketing Company has launched a 24-hour operational model to improve cocoa movement across Ghana's logistics and export value chain, as part of President Mahama's 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme. The initiative, structured around three pillars—Offload 24, Load 24 and Export 24—extends critical cocoa operations beyond conventional working hours at Take-Over Centers in Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi.
The Cocoa Marketing Company has launched a comprehensive 24-hour operational model under three pillars—Offload 24, Load 24, and Export 24—to improve cocoa movement across logistics and export, implemented at CMC take-over centres in Tema, Kumasi, and Takoradi as part of Ghana's 24-Hour Economy programme.
Economist Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin says the GoldBod initiative has significantly reduced gold smuggling and helped Ghana retain more foreign exchange from artisanal and small-scale mining, with the gap between Ghana's gold export figures and those of importing countries narrowing significantly since GoldBod's introduction.
Economist Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin says GoldBod has successfully helped Ghana retain foreign exchange from the gold sector and narrowed the smuggling gap, but argues the programme suffered major design defects that better planning and expert input could have prevented.
Ghana has introduced stronger legal measures through a new COCOBOD Act, including clauses that regulate cocoa farm conversion and impose criminal sanctions, aiming to prevent farm destruction from illegal mining and other unlawful activities. An opinion piece argues that while protecting cocoa is legitimate, the law should not extend beyond what is necessary to address the problem.
Economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin warns that weaknesses in Ghana's energy sector pose a threat to fiscal stability and calls for greater transparency, broader consultation, and clearly defined private-sector participation in electricity distribution. He notes that problems at the Electricity Company of Ghana—including high distribution losses, weak revenue collection, and financial burdens on the state—predate the current IMF programme, though the programme has improved transparency and revenue distribution mechanisms.
Economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin says state-owned enterprises, including the Electricity Company of Ghana and COCOBOD, have cost Ghana between 2.5% and 3.2% of its GDP over the past 15 to 20 years through inefficiencies. He calls for stronger policy reforms targeting these enterprises and greater transparency on any private-sector participation in ECG.
Economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin has urged greater transparency and national consultation on Ghana's electricity sector reforms, warning that ECG's financial challenges pose a major risk to fiscal stability. He notes that long-standing structural problems including inefficiencies, weak revenue collection, and power generation obligations predate the current IMF programme.
An NPP Communications Team member has criticised the government for fast-tracking the proposed Cocoa Protection Bill without broader stakeholder consultation, arguing that cocoa farmers and industry players were excluded from its development and that some provisions are too harsh, including prison terms of 10–20 years for unlawful farm conversion.
An opinion article praises Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Ghana's Minister for Finance under John D. Mahama, for exercising disciplined leadership during economic recovery from a severe crisis, including interventions in the cocoa sector.
The opposition NPP has accused Attorney General Dominic Ayine of using his office to secure the release of NDC members and allies facing corruption prosecutions, citing the Court of Appeal's acquittal of former MASLOC CEO Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu and discontinuation of the SSNIT financial loss case as examples of what it claims is a deliberate pattern.
The new CEO of Ghana International Bank spent 10 working days in Ghana during his first month to understand the bank's customers and communities, and believes GHIB's greatest opportunities lie in financing trade and partnering with Ghanaian businesses as they expand internationally. Since its establishment in 1959, the bank has served as a bridge between Ghana and the world's financial markets.
COCOBOD projects a 16% decline in Ghana's cocoa production for the 2026–2027 season, citing El Niño conditions, excessive rain, the cocoa tree's natural bearing cycle, and disease. The Western and Western North regions, which account for more than half of Ghana's output, face additional pressure from swollen shoot disease, ageing farms, and illegal gold mining.
The Ofoase Ayirebi MP and Ranking Member on Parliament's Economy and Development Committee warned that the government's proposed cocoa pricing formula could leave farmers worse off by undermining the minimum guaranteed farm-gate price, and called for broad stakeholder consultation before Parliament rushes through Cocoa Board reforms.
Eight months into Ghana's 2026 Budget reset, the cedi has remained broadly stable and the domestic bond market has reopened after a three-year absence, though observers note that sustaining discipline beyond the IMF programme and translating headline gains into better jobs and living standards remain key tests.
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson announced that government will introduce a new COCOBOD Bill to replace the 1984 Act, with a commitment to ensure cocoa farmers receive not less than 70% of the gross Free-on-Board price. The new law will introduce a producer pricing mechanism linking cocoa prices to international market developments, exchange rate movements, and other relevant market conditions.
An opinion piece argues that Ghana's 2026 budget "reset" has delivered more progress than expected in eight months, including cedi stability and reopened domestic bond markets following IMF programme success, but notes the key challenge is sustaining stability without IMF oversight and translating headline improvements into jobs and living standards.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana has endorsed COCOBOD's transition from syndicated offshore loans to local market financing, saying the move will reduce liquidity injections into the domestic economy and strengthen monetary policy management.
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly demolished over 500 wooden structures at Bayakasua slum behind the COCOBOD building, which has been described as a breeding ground for criminals and site of illegal activities including prostitution and drug trafficking. The demolition was supervised by Mayor Richard Ofori Agyeman Boadi and supported by police, military, KMA Metro Guards, ECG, and Ghana Water Limited.
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly demolished over 700 unauthorized structures around the Asafo Interchange and near the COCOBOD building and Takoradi Flour Mill, citing concerns over congestion, sanitation, public safety, and criminal activity. The operation, supervised by Mayor Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi and backed by armed forces and police, was intended to restore public space and improve the Central Business District environment.
A Chief Inspector of the Ghana Police Service in Ashanti is under investigation for allegedly renting unauthorised structures to commercial sex workers at Asafo BB in Kumasi. The discovery emerged during a Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly demolition operation that was halted when squatters assaulted the task force, damaging vehicles and injuring three officers.
Three officers of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly sustained injuries after residents attacked an Assembly taskforce during a demolition exercise behind the COCOBOD building at Adum on July 8. The KMA said the demolition aimed to clear illegal structures obstructing drainage channels and enable desilting ahead of the rainy season, but residents resisted and vandalized Assembly vehicles and equipment.
Three members of a Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly taskforce, including a military officer, were injured when squatters resisted the demolition of unauthorised structures behind the COCOBOD building at the Asafo overpass on Wednesday. Residents threw stones and objects at the team; two taskforce pickups and an excavator were vandalised during the clash.
A demolition exercise by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly on Wednesday to clear unauthorised structures behind the COCOBOD building became chaotic when squatters and traders resisted, pelting stones and sticks at the taskforce; a taskforce member was reportedly hit, and traders protested they had received no notice and faced loss of livelihoods.
Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Ampem Nyarko told Parliament that COCOBOD's indebtedness to fertilizer and agrochemical suppliers from 2021 to 2024 stems from procurement commitments that exceeded budgetary allocations. In 2021–2022, COCOBOD procured $455.7 million in agrochemicals against a $312.8 million budget, and this pattern continued in subsequent years, with the 2023–2024 season seeing $668.6 million contracted against a $76.5 million budget, while cocoa production declined.
Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire have agreed to harmonise cocoa farm-gate pricing policies to strengthen farmer incomes, reduce market distortions, and build resilience against market volatility and climate risks. The two countries, which together produce more than 60 percent of global cocoa, aim to strengthen bargaining power and stabilise the sector through closer policy alignment.
Joy Online has compiled a civic intelligence project examining COCOBOD's activities between 2017 and 2026 through debt records, procurement, production trends, and public statements. The archive includes investigations into competing narratives on COCOBOD's financial condition, cocoa pricing formulas and farmer compensation, and policy debates affecting cocoa producers.
Ghana's government has decided not to cut the cocoa producer price despite falling international cocoa prices, citing concerns for farmer welfare after significant challenges over the past year. Cocobod's Head of Public Affairs said the decision to maintain prices was not based on international market conditions but on protecting farmers and Ghana's cocoa industry.
COCOBOD says Ghana is holding cocoa producer prices steady despite falling international markets, contrasting with Côte d'Ivoire's practice of adjusting prices downward. The decision aims to protect farmers' incomes and is part of Ghana's conventional pricing system announced at the start of each cocoa season.
COCOBOD's head of public affairs said the government's decision to intervene in cocoa pricing mid-season was extraordinary but necessary to protect farmers and safeguard the sector, departing from the conventional practice of announcing prices only at the start of the main and light crop seasons due to unforeseen developments.