The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Association of Banks and Chairman of Cocoa Capital PLC, John Awuah, has explained that the vehicle established to mobilise domestic financing for Ghana’s cocoa purchases has been structured as a close-ended and self-liquidating transaction.
Cocoa Capital PLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), was established as the special purpose vehicle (SPV) to arrange financing for cocoa purchases for the new crop season.
Mr Awuah said Cocoa Capital will hold cocoa contracts assigned to it by COCOBOD, against which bonds and commercial paper are issued to raise funds for the cocoa season.
“COCOBOD will assign the full contracts with the off-takers to the SPV. The SPV will hold the contracts. On the back of those contracts, these bonds and commercial papers have been issued, and as contracts get settled through the receivable, the investors, are paid,” he explained.
He said the structure is designed so that proceeds generated from the underlying cocoa contracts are used to meet obligations to investors.
“If you go through the documents that have been published, you’ll find that it’s very much a close-ended and self-liquidating transaction,” he said.
The structure forms part of the GH¢16.3 billion Domestic Cocoa Notes Programme, under which GH¢14 billion is being raised through commercial paper to finance short-term cocoa purchasing requirements for the 2026/27 season, while GH¢2.3 billion is being raised through bonds to refinance legacy COCOBOD debt.
The programme’s repayment structure is backed by receivables from selected executed cocoa forward sales contracts assigned to Cocoa Capital, with proceeds channelled through designated ring-fenced accounts.
