Ghana May Struggle to Repay Lenders' $1.3 Billion Cocoa Loan
- World’s no. 2 cocoa grower unlikely to meet crop target
- Regulator in talks with government over finance for expenses
Photographer: Jane Hahn/Bloomberg
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Ghana Cocoa Board may struggle to fully pay back loans of $1.3 billion as this season’s harvest will likely be smaller than first anticipated, according to the head of the industry regulator.
The world’s second-biggest grower signed for the loans with lenders such as Credit Agricole SA and Natixis SA prior to the start of the annual harvest in October to pay farmers for their beans. Ghana will probably not meet its target of 850,000 metric tons due to dry weather and plant disease, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, chief executive officer of the regulator, said Monday in an interview in the capital, Accra.