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$48m Jute Sack Contract Signed in Dec 2024 Despite 110,000 Unused Bales – Acting COCOBOD CEO
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, has described a $48 million jute sack contract issued in December 2024 as an act of “recklessness,” revealing it was awarded despite a surplus of over 110,000 unused jute sacks already in stock for more than three years.
Speaking on PM Express Business Edition on Joy News, Dr Abbey disclosed that the deal involved the issuance of an irrevocable letter of credit (LC) through Ghana International Bank in London, committing COCOBOD to pay the full amount once shipping documents were presented—regardless of existing stock or liquidity concerns.
“They issued an irrevocable letter of credit—$48 million—in December 2024… when over 110,000 bales of jute sacks had been sitting unused,” he said.
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The contract covered 80,000 additional bales, worsening the Board’s financial situation, which Dr Abbey revealed is already crippled by a debt stock of close to GH¢33 billion.
$48 million: Value of new jute sack contract awarded in December 2024.
- 80,000: Number of jute sack bales ordered under the new contract.
- 110,000+: Existing stock of jute sacks that remain uncleared and unused.
- $400 million+: Outstanding debt owed to agrochemical suppliers.
- GH¢33 billion: COCOBOD’s current total debt stock (subject to minor adjustment with cedi appreciation).
- GH¢21 billion Cocoa Roads cost: Public assumption corrected; actual certified component is GH¢4.4 billion, not included in the GH¢33 billion figure.
Dr Abbey painted a stark picture of the organisation’s daily financial pressures.
“When you got here, you waited for about an hour. All those you saw leaving my office were companies that we owed,” he told Joy News.
“Every day I’m dealing with solicitor letters or court issues—it’s about people that we owe.”
He revealed that some debts date back four years and that despite this, contracts were still being signed as recently as December 2024 and January 2025.
Contrary to widespread belief that the Cocoa Roads programme accounted for GH¢21 billion of the debt, Dr Abbey clarified that:
- Only GH¢4.4 billion is made up of certified work awaiting payment.
- The remaining GH¢16.6 billion relates to contracts not yet certified or executed.
Dr Abbey said COCOBOD has launched a rationalisation exercise to cancel, offload, or vary contracts in a bid to bring the institution back to solvency.
“The projections we made were that by year four, we should be fine,” he said, adding that the team will need to recalculate those projections following the recent appreciation of the cedi.
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