{
  "id": 7421878,
  "title": "China Capital: Ghana COCOBOD’s multibillion-cedi profit masks a record of financial recklessness",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/china-capital-ghana-cocobods-multibillion-cedi-profit-masks-a-record",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-14T23:17:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Ghana Business News",
    "slug": "ghana-business-news",
    "url": "https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2026/09/14/china-capital-ghana-cocobods-multibillion-cedi-profit-masks-a-record-of-financial-recklessness/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), despite reporting a GH¢5.11 billion profit, has a history of financial recklessness that has led to it being listed on international watchlists. A recent investigation by China Capital, a collaboration involving 75 journalists from 24 media organizations in 24 countries, uncovered how ICBC pursued deals for Beijing, even when they involved opaque companies linked to kleptocrats and China's political establishment.\n\nCOCOBOD received a $600-million loan from ICBC in November 2019, which became a focal point of the African Investment Forum in Johannesburg. The Board was one of the state entities most significantly affected by the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) in 2023, which restructured GH¢15.5 billion in short-term local debt and led to a 50% haircut on Bank of Ghana's GH¢7.4 billion in those bills held by local banks.\n\nThe investigation found that COCOBOD's operations lack transparency and accountability, with \"a bit of opaqueness\" in the entire system. Experts noted issues such as price build-up calculations, administrative cost deductions, and debt servicing. The Board suffered a significant \"haircut\" on its finances, with more than 97% of the bills restructured into term debt spread over five years.\n\nDespite assurances from former President Akufo-Addo in 2022 that no investor would lose money due to the DDEP, the programme resulted in pensioners losing their savings. COCOBOD's procurement indiscretions, including exceeding budgetary allocations for agrochemicals, also contributed to its financial struggles. In June 2026, Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Ampem Nyarko revealed that the cocoa sector faced fiscal pressures due to procurement commitments exceeding budgetary allocations.",
  "summary": "The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) goes around every year seeking loans to buy cocoa, only to land on a lender’s watchlist. A watchlist is a red flag international financiers reserve for borrowers whose finances they no longer trust. The post China Capital: Ghana COCOBOD’s multibillion-cedi profit masks a record of financial recklessness appeared first on Ghana Business News .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}