COCOBOD’s offer to holders of its short-term debt securities (cocoa bills) to swap them for longer-term debt securities, according to Joe Jackson, is just an evidence of the government’s incapacity to service its obligations.
According to the financial expert, the offer is just an extension of the government’s previous domestic debt swap scheme.
Mr. Jackson stated in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News that, according to the Ghana Cocoa Board’s plans, the cocoa bills that were due to mature in August will not be paid but instead extended until 2024.
“As we did with domestic bonds, the government and COCOBOD have come forward to claim that we are unable to pay our debts.” Recall that the final Cocoa Bill was issued in February 2023 at a rate of 32.22 percent per year, and it was meant to be paid in August, but it will not be paid, and any interest and principal will be rolled up into a single number.”
He also stated that the interest on those payments will be paid over a five-year period to offer the government with some temporary respite.
“Let’s say you have Cocoa Bills worth GH¢68 and interest worth about GH¢32 which adds up to GH¢100, 5 percent of that will be paid in 2024, 20 percent in 2025, 25 percent in 2026, 25 percent in 2027, and 25 percent in 2028 which means that the monies that you should have received this year plus interest, will be spread over the five years starting in 2024. This is another haircut.”
He further slammed COCOBOD for derailing from its original mandate thereby being unable to pay its debts.
“This is truly a COCOBOD problem. COCOBOD has badly managed its affairs, and it hasn’t even published its accounts since 2020, and it is the one that took the money supposedly to purchase cocoa but unfortunately doing other things that are not in its original remit.”
