Former Deputy Finance Minister and a son of a cocoa farmer, Dr Alex Ampaabeng, says the cocoa pricing framework currently being implemented by the government was developed as part of the COCOBOD Turnaround Strategy under the previous administration.
According to Dr Ampaabeng, the framework was negotiated under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and was designed to establish a rules-based mechanism for determining producer prices while safeguarding the financial sustainability of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
He said the framework provided for producer prices to be linked to a defined share of the Free on Board (FOB) price, which, in his view, was intended to reduce discretion and promote greater transparency in cocoa pricing.
Dr Ampaabeng attributed the negotiations to the previous administration’s IMF programme, under the leadership of then Finance Minister Dr Amin Adam.
He explained that the turnaround strategy subsequently provided for producer prices to be determined within a defined range of the FOB price, while allowing COCOBOD to meet its operational and financial obligations.
“The question is not whether the current administration is implementing the formula. It is,” Dr Ampaabeng said.
He, however, argued that recognition should also be given to those who negotiated and institutionalised the framework.
Dr Ampaabeng further noted that COCOBOD’s financial challenges had accumulated over several years and under successive governments, making reforms to the cocoa pricing system necessary.
He said while it was fair to give credit to the administration implementing the policy, the historical origins of the framework should not be overlooked.
“History should not begin on the day a government assumes office,” he said, stressing the need for consistency and what he described as a fuller account of the development of Ghana’s cocoa pricing framework.
Dr Alex Ampaabeng is a former Deputy Finance Minister and describes himself as a son of a cocoa farmer.
