Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), in collaboration with a consortium of International Financiers, signed an agreement that will bring in an amount of $1.3 billion to the Ghanaian Economy.
The Pre-Export Trade Finance Facility has been contracted at a competitive interest rate plus libor of 1.75%. Since the 1992/93 crop season, COCOBOD has consistently and successfully, through the pre-export Syndicated Finance Facility, obtained a receivables-backed syndicated loan each year from the international money market to finance its cocoa purchases.
A total of 28 institutions, made up of 4 local and 24 international financial institutions have participated in this year’s syndication.
The Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers:
- ABN AMRO BANK NIV
- BANK OF CHINA LIMITED LONDON BRANCH
- COOPERATIVE RABOBANK UA
- DZ BANK AG DEUTSCHE ZENTRAL-ZENOSSENSCHA FTS BANK, FRANKFURT AM MAIN.
- GHANA INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC
- INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA LIMITED, LONDON BRANCH
- MUFG BANK LIMITED
- NATIXIS ix. SOCIETE GENERALE
- STANDARD CHARTED BANK
The four local banks that are participating include:
- ECOBANK GHANA LIMITED
- SOCIETE GENERAL GHANA LIMITED
- ABSA GHANA LIMITED
- STANBIC BANK GHANA LIMITED
The facility, the largest soft commodity deal in sub-Saharan Africa, will be used to finance cocoa purchases and related operational activities for the 2020 crop season.