By Ashiadey Dotse
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, has revealed that the company owes agrochemical suppliers a staggering $400 million. He said this during a recent interview on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, May 25. 2025, where he spoke openly about the serious financial challenges facing the cocoa regulatory body.
Dr Abbey explained that when he took over, COCOBOD was nearly insolvent, with debts amounting to almost 33 billion Ghana cedis. Some of these debts, he noted, date back as far as four years. Among the key issues is the $400 million owed to agrochemical suppliers—some of whom have not even delivered the goods for which they have already billed COCOBOD.
“In some cases, these agrochemicals have not reached our stores, but the suppliers have done their part by delivering them to the port and issuing the bills of lading,” he said. “Once that happens, COCOBOD is responsible for clearing the goods and paying for them, whether they’re cleared or not.”
Dr Abbey also highlighted problems with over-ordering and stock mismanagement. He pointed to a huge surplus of jute sacks, which are used to package cocoa. Despite already having tens of thousands in stock—and many more unclaimed at the ports—previous management continued to order new shipments worth tens of millions of dollars.
“In December 2024, COCOBOD even issued an irrevocable letter of credit worth $48 million for 80,000 more bales, despite having over 110,000 unclaimed at the port,” Dr Abbey disclosed. “These are financial decisions that don’t make sense for a company in this condition.”
He said the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) is now probing the whereabouts of over 200 containers of agrochemicals and jute sacks, which may have been lost or mismanaged.
The CEO stressed that COCOBOD is now focused on restoring financial discipline, reducing unnecessary spending, and recovering from years of mismanagement.
