Dr. Randy Abbey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has outlined a series of deep-rooted financial and operational challenges he inherited upon assuming office, describing the institution’s current position as the most precarious in its nearly 80-year history.
Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Monday, February 9, 2026, Dr. Abbey revealed that COCOBOD was burdened with a total debt of GH¢32.9 billion as at the end of 2024, alongside a negative equity position of about GH¢3.8 billion—meaning the organisation’s liabilities exceeded its assets.
According to him, this marked the first time in the history of COCOBOD that the board had recorded negative equity. He contrasted the situation with 2016, when COCOBOD posted a positive equity position of approximately GH¢1.8 billion.
“Year-end 2024. That is when I took over, what I inherited, I mean, COCOBOD had a debt of GHC32.9 billion. COCOBOD had a negative equity of GHC3.8 billion. At the end of 2016, COCOBOD had a positive equity of about GHC1.8 billion.
“2024 year-end, negative equity of GHC3.8 billion, almost GHC3.9 billion, which presupposes that COCOBOD’s liabilities were more than its assets, but close to GHC4 billion. The first time in the history of the 79-year-old company. Next year [2027], COCOBOD will be 80 years old. So this is what we inherited,” he said.
Cocoa Road Contract Exposure
A major contributor to the financial strain, Dr. Abbey disclosed, is COCOBOD’s exposure to cocoa road contracts, estimated at GH¢26 billion. He explained, however, that only GH¢4.4 billion of this amount currently forms part of the recorded debt, as it relates to certified works awaiting payment.
“So this is what we inherited. We inherited a cocoa road exposure of GHC26 billion,” he disclosed.
“So only GHC4.4 billion of this exposure was part of the debt, because the GHC 4.4 billion were certificates that were sitting at our cash office, but the GHC26 billion were contracts, road contracts that COCOBOD had awarded, GHC26 billion. But the GHC32.9 billion includes only GHC4.4 billion of these GHC 26 billion contracts awarded,” he explained.
Procurement Challenges
Beyond infrastructure commitments, the COCOBOD CEO also pointed to persistent procurement inefficiencies, particularly in the acquisition of jute sacks used in cocoa packaging.
Dr. Abbey said the board continued to procure jute sacks annually without clearing existing stock, leading to repeated and avoidable expenditure estimated at about $48 million.
“Then you also had a situation where COCOBOD kept procuring jute sacks and were not clearing these jute sacks, but yet were procuring every single year and not clearing, and spending $48 million,” he said.
Dr. Abbey noted that the combined impact of legacy debts, uncrystallised contract obligations and procurement lapses accounts for the GH¢32.9 billion debt burden he inherited, underscoring the scale of the reforms required to stabilise COCOBOD’s finances and restore confidence in the cocoa sector regulator.
