Prof Steve Hanke is an American Economist
American economist and Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, has described Ghana’s cocoa sector regulator, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), as a corrupt institution.
According to him, COCOBOD is cheating Ghanaian farmers by paying them only one-third of the total market price for cocoa.
“The Ghana Cocoa Board rips off Ghanaian farmers. The board pays farmers only one-third of the market price for cocoa. The Cocoa Board is a typical corrupt Ghanaian institution,” he wrote on his X page on March 9, 2025.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Dr. Randy Abbey, has reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that cocoa farmers receive value for their produce and to restoring the cocoa sector.
He noted that although Ghana has an installed domestic processing capacity of 504,780 tonnes, existing processing companies operate at below 50% of their capacity.
According to him, this limitation hinders Ghana’s ability to maximize the benefits of the multi-billion-dollar global chocolate industry.
“Ghana has long been recognized as one of the world’s leading producers of cocoa, yet we are yet to reap the full benefits of this beloved crop in terms of domestic consumption,” he said, as quoted by 3news.com.
He further stated that the President has directed him to implement measures that will increase Ghana’s export of processed cocoa products instead of raw cocoa beans.
The Ghana Cocoa Board RIPS OFF Ghanaian farmers.
The board pays farmers ONLY ONE-THIRD of the market price for cocoa.
The Cocoa Board is a typical CORRUPT Ghanaian institution. pic.twitter.com/wVgD9S7ynl
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) March 9, 2025
SSD/MA
Watch the latest edition of BizTech below:
Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Business WhatsApp channel