Ghana’s cocoa industry regulator Cocobod signed a $1.3 billion loan with international banks on Thursday to fund purchases for the 2018/19 season, due to open early next month, it said.

The world’s second largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast, Ghana uses loans from international banks every year for bean purchases. In the upcoming season it aims to buy at least 900,000 tonnes from farmers, spokesman Noah Amenya said.

Amenya said the loan, the largest pre-export soft commodity financing facility in sub-Saharan Africa, was oversubscribed by $550 million, or 42 percent. Some 21 lenders participated in the syndication.

Cocobod will repay it over 12 months with an interest rate of Libor plus 0.625 percent.

Lead arrangers of the loan signed in Amsterdam were Amro Bank, Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank.

Others are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Ghana International Bank. 

Source: Reuters