Ghana’s Cocoa Export Volumes Plunge 50% Despite Revenue Surge – Auditor-General Flags Sustainability Risks

Ghana’s cocoa sector posted mixed fortunes in 2024, recording a dramatic slump in export volumes but notching up higher earnings thanks to favourable global prices, the latest Auditor-General’s report has revealed.

According to the report on the Bank of Ghana’s foreign exchange receipts and payments for the year ending 31st December 2024, total cocoa bean exports fell sharply to 261,248 tons, down from 533,057 tons in 2023 a staggering decline of more than 50 percent. Exports of processed cocoa products, including butter, paste, and powder, also slid to 192,429 tons from 240,897 tons the previous year.

Yet, in a twist buoyed by stronger prices on the international market and steady value-added exports, total cocoa receipts jumped 37.5 percent, from US$1.26 billion in 2023 to US$1.73 billion in 2024.

The Auditor-General, however, sounded alarm bells over the sharp contraction in syndicated loan inflows, a critical financing backbone for the cocoa industry. Syndicated loan proceeds nosedived by over 92 percent, plunging from US$681 million to a meagre US$50 million last year. The report clarified that the US$50 million did not come from the usual pre-export syndicated facility but rather from non-collateralized loan arrangements used mainly to service COCOBOD’s interest payments.

Despite the headwinds, actual cocoa receipts surpassed the central bank’s projection of US$1 billion, delivering a positive variance of more than US$734 million and accounting for 14.47 percent of Ghana’s total foreign exchange earnings of US$11.99 billion in 2024.

However, stakeholders are wary that with output falling so drastically, the sector’s current revenue boost is dangerously reliant on high global prices. If international prices retreat and domestic production remains weak, the sustainability of the gains could unravel.

The steep drop in syndicated loans also signals tightening financing conditions that could further constrain investments in production and farmer support.

As Ghana’s cocoa belt faces mounting threats from ageing farms, climate shocks, and smuggling, the report’s findings have renewed calls for urgent structural reforms and bold investments to safeguard the long-term viability of the country’s prized cash crop.

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