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Company News of Monday, July 8, 2019
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2019-07-08
play the videoJoseph Boahen Aidoo, Executive Director of the Ghana Cocoa Board
After successfully negotiating a fixed "historic" minimum price for cocoa produced in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, the two countries scheduled the 2020/2021 season as the take-off season for the implementation of the agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, an amount of $ 2,600 was stipulated as the minimum price per ton of cocoa, or C $ 2,700.
According to Joseph Boahen Aidoo, CEO of COCOBOD, the floor price would determine cocoa prices for 2020/2021 because 2019/2020, the cocoa had already been sold at existing prices.
In July 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo and his counterpart in Côte d'Ivoire, President Albadane Ouattara, began negotiations to set a fixed production price for cocoa. The negotiations lasted about two years and ended in 2019 with a floor price of $ 2,600 set for one ton of cocoa beans.
It is, however, the first time that African cocoa-producing countries dictate prices for international processors and distributors.
At a press conference held Monday, July 8, 2019, Mr. Boahen Aidoo stressed that "this new arrangement fixes a constant supplement of $ 400 per ton of cocoa from both countries, for example with the 900,000 metric tons of cocoa produced, it would have brought us about $ 360 million from the top of the supply chain, here in Ghana, to the bottom of the cocoa value chain. "
He noted that the new floor price would eventually provide a decent income for cocoa farmers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Boahen Aidoo added that this new performance achieved by Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire has added an additional need for both countries to strictly adhere to international standards for cocoa production, thus eliminating all forms of deforestation work related to cocoa farming in some rural areas.
On the issue of child labor in the cocoa sector, Mr. Boahen Aidoo stressed the need to make a clear distinction between child labor and child labor, which he said are two different things .
He revealed that the board of directors applied strict policies to address child labor and deforestation issues in the country's cocoa producing areas.
Stabilization Fund
Mr. Boahen Aidoo added that a stabilization fund account would be created to allow both countries to build a reserve and increase prices in the event of a fall below the expected floor price.
"… A stabilization fund account will be established under the Cocoa Initiative of both countries and provided for in the Charter, with two accounts being created for each country within the secretariat in Accra."
"Any additional value greater than C $ 3,000 or FOB $ 2,900 gross of the weighted average obtained will be placed in these accounts."
Thus, the only reason funds would be paid out of the stabilization fund account will be to support the lower floor price.
The new agreement would also give Ghana's COCOBOD sufficient capacity to badume more social responsibilities.
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