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The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GNCCI)  has made a passionate appeal to the government to reduce the tax rates on importation on materials or goods by their members. The National 1st Vice President for the GNCCI, Mrs. Victoria M. E. Hajar. Mr. Osman Mamuda, Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GNCCI) is an association of business operators, firms and industries established under the Legislative Instrument (LI 611 1968; Act 232) to promote and protect commercial and industrial interests in Ghana. The GNCCI is the representative voice of the business community in Ghana.

It serves as a link between the private sector and government at various levels, while offering the business community in Ghana a myriad of business support services. Since its inception, the Chamber has been critical to the growth of the Ghanaian economy. The Chamber has grown impressively from a membership of 14 in 1888 to about 9,000 today with eight operational offices across the country. Since its incorporation, the Chamber has continued to play a significant role in the economic growth and development of Ghana.

The National 1st Vice President for the GNCCI, Mrs. Victoria M. E. Hajar when speaking with the media during the GIZ  Trade Hub and GNCCI Women Conference held in Kumasi with the theme; Making African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) work through a deliberate inclusion of women, Mrs. Hajar also reiterated the for the government to put in much effort in the educational sector to be able to produce productive students instead of the vice versa.

Mr. Osman Mamuda, Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, on his part also added that the GNCCI engagement in Kumasi will help boost the work of business men and women in the region.

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Ghana’s Cocoa Marketing Board (COCOBOD) has successfully signed an $800 million syndicated loan with banks and anticipates drawing down the initial $600 million as early as this week, according to its deputy chief executive officer.

COCOBOD, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, traditionally employs an annual syndicated loan to fund bean purchases from farmers.

Ray Ankrah, Deputy CEO of COCOBOD, expressed the challenges faced in finalizing the deal, stating, “I joined COCOBOD in 2018 and this is the hardest transaction we have had. It’s been signed, and we are working on the drawdown. We’re drawing down $600 million by the end of this week, and we expect to draw down the $200 million in the middle to the end of January.”

The terms of the loan, approved by Ghana’s parliament in November, remain consistent. Under the approved terms, COCOBOD will pay interest of nearly 8%, including the one-month Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) around 5.3% and a margin of 2.65%.

Professor Agyapomaa Gyeke-Dako, an economist at the University of Ghana, noted that the loan could support the local cedi currency by cooling dollar demand spurred by slow progress in restructuring the country’s bilateral debt. Ghana and Ivory Coast are anticipating their smallest cocoa crops in years due to poor weather.

Ankrah previously told the media that COCOBOD planned to capitalize on record-high global cocoa prices by selling part of the country’s crop on the spot market.