By Kobina Welsing – Ghana’s Parliament has approved a two billion dollar loan facility for cocoa purchases by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for the 2016-2017 cocoa season.
The loan was passed Wednesday after several hours of heated debates between the Minority and Majority amid concerns by the minority about the high cost of the loan.
Key among the issues raised by the minority include the cost of $35.7 million meant for arrangement and participation fees, labor, and commitment fees among others.
The minority also expressed dissatisfaction that the 570 million dollars earmarked for cocoa roads was not accompanied by details regarding the length of roads the amount will cover.
The approval paves the way for Cocobod to procure the loan from a consortium of banks and financial institutions.
In a related development the House also approved a waiver of 10 million dollars for stamp duty on the receivables.
