Ghana’s cocoa-buying companies may struggle to finance purchases when the 2026/27 season opens unless the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) clears outstanding payments that an industry group puts at nearly GHS4bn ($348mn), adding another risk to an already weaker production outlook.

The Chamber of Cocoa Marketers Ghana said the unpaid obligations are making it difficult for Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to secure fresh credit while they continue servicing loans used to finance earlier purchases, Joy News reported.

Victus Dzah, chief executive officer of the chamber, said some buyers are already borrowing at interest rates of as much as 40%, potentially limiting their ability to return to producing areas when the season begins.

“Cocobod has not paid us. How are we going to go back to the field to buy cocoa?” he asked. “You buy the cocoa, and in seven months, you cannot pay. You are totally out of the business. Some companies have collapsed because of this,” Dzah said.

Cocobod sets and administers the producer-price system, supervises licensed cocoa buyers, supports farmers and crop quality, and plays a central role in financing, purchasing and marketing Ghanaian cocoa.

A similar liquidity squeeze hit the sector during the 2023/24 season, when financing delays left local LBCs struggling to raise capital for cocoa purchases. Ghana’s crop that season fell to its lowest level in more than two decades, with Cocobod reporting production of just 429,323 tonnes by the end of June.

Cocobod has acknowledged that payments remain outstanding but said such balances are not unusual at the end of a cocoa season and do not indicate an inability to meet its obligations. It has not independently confirmed the chamber’s estimate of nearly GHS4bn.

The regulator said it had prioritised payments to farmers and plans to meet the buying companies to reconcile the outstanding amounts before the new season begins.

For decades, Cocobod financed cocoa purchases with an annual offshore syndicated loan raised ahead of the main crop season. The facility provided a large pool of working capital at the start of each season, allowing Cocobod and licensed buyers to purchase beans before export proceeds were received.

That system was discontinued in 2024 before an equivalent domestic facility was fully established. Funding became more fragmented, relying more on buyer pre-financing, commercial bank credit and other short-term arrangements. LBCs consequently carried more of the working-capital burden while Cocobod developed a longer-term replacement.

Delayed reimbursement compounds that strain. LBCs remain exposed to loans from the previous buying cycle and have less cash and collateral available to secure fresh borrowing. High domestic interest rates make rolling over old debt or raising new working capital more expensive.

Cocobod now plans to anchor its 2026/27 funding model in Ghana’s domestic capital market, including 270-day cedi-denominated commercial paper under a five-year programme. It believes local investors can provide about GHS16bn annually, according to bne IntelliNews, while Cocobod also faces annual debt-service payments of about GHS2.6bn.

More of the financing burden is therefore moving from international syndicated lenders to domestic investors and banks. The cost and availability of cedi liquidity will determine how easily both Cocobod and LBCs can finance purchases.

JoyNews Research reported on September 16 that institutional investors were demanding higher coupon rates and a larger risk premium before committing funds, while Ghana was still struggling to mobilise sufficient financing for the delayed opening of the 2026/27 season.

Research published in June on Ghana’s post-syndication cocoa financing system points to deeper constraints. A study by Sophie van Huellen, Fuad Mohammed Abubakar, Nana Amma Asante-Poku and Robert Fig concluded that “the financing requirement for sourcing cocoa beans exceeds the domestic banking sector’s capacity”, with smaller domestically owned LBCs particularly exposed because they have less access to internal capital or multinational pre-financing.

Cocobod expects Ghana’s cocoa production to fall by at least 16% in 2026/27, increasing the importance of ensuring buyers have enough financing to collect the available crop.

Dzah also warned that a sharp increase in Ghana’s farmgate price could widen the differential with neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire and alter the direction of cross-border cocoa flows.

Côte d’Ivoire opened its 2026/27 season at CFA1,200 per kilogramme.

“If Ghana should hike its price by this percentage, then already you must know there will be huge implications in terms of price differential between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire,” Dzah said.

When prices are higher outside Ghana, the incentive is for Ghanaian beans to be smuggled out. That was a major problem in 2023/24, when Ghana lost significant volumes to neighbouring markets, including Côte d’Ivoire. Cocobod estimated that about 160,000 tonnes were lost to smuggling that season.

If Ghana instead sets a producer price materially above Côte d’Ivoire’s, the incentive can reverse, drawing beans into Ghana. That could inflate official purchase volumes and create traceability and quality-control problems.

The June study identified an additional financial risk from such inward flows: the Cocoa Marketing Company may be obliged to buy imported beans at Ghana’s higher producer price even when that price exceeds the spot-market value.

“Plans must be put in place to control the expected heavy smuggling in order to protect the quality of our cocoa,” Dzah said.