Over the years, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been burdened with a somewhat large loan portfolio.
This is stated in the Auditor General’s report on the Public Accounts of Ghana’s Public Boards, Corporations, and other Statutory Institutions for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021.
According to the report, COCOBOD has debts totaling GH12,301,211,685.40 as of the end of the 2019/2020 fiscal year.
The Auditor General further stated that his investigation revealed that the board failed to establish any meaningful measures for future debt reduction.
The table below illustrates the financial cost rise as of September 30, 2020.
The report further noted that the absence of sustainable debt plans coupled with the absence of effective long-term cost control measures resulted in this state of affairs.
“The debt burden resulted in increased finance costs over the years.”
The Auditor General cautioned that if this is not handled properly, the cocoa industry will suffer.
The table below shows the increase in finance during the year,
The Auditor General urged Management to deploy and implement effective plans and strategies that would lead to a reduction of the Board’s debt burden within the medium to long term.
“Management has a detailed plan in place to reduce debt on the books of COCOBOD. COCOBOD is implementing tighter budgetary controls to ensure that debt is not accumulated, but rather we make savings to repay all debts on our books.”
Section 90 of the Public Financial Management Act of 2016 (Act 921) states that the governing body of a public corporation or state-owned enterprise must establish and maintain policies, procedures, risk management, and internal control systems, as well as governance and management practices, to ensure that the public corporation or state-owned enterprise manages its resources prudently and efficiently in accordance with the objectives for which the public corporation was established.
