Finance Professor at the University of Ghana, Professor Godfred Bokpin says he is not surprised by the current challenges in Ghana’s cocoa sector, arguing that the warning signs have been visible for years.
According to him, cocoa’s strategic importance to foreign exchange reserves and currency stability has steadily declined, while gold, largely driven by artisanal and small-scale mining, has become more dominant.
“If you look at gold related inflows in the last six or seven years and compare that to cocoa, the focus has clearly shifted,” he said, adding that the way cocoa was treated at independence is “not the same today.”
Prof. Bokpin noted that illegal mining, neglect of farmers and weak policy responses have eroded the sector’s competitiveness.
“We neglected cocoa farmers, not today.”
He questioned whether government should absorb current losses or prioritise other development spending, but insisted the situation did not happen overnight, saying, “We saw this coming long ago.”
The economist also linked the strain on the sector to currency dynamics, pointing out that when a currency appreciates aggressively while global prices trend downward, exporters are squeezed because conversion at the official exchange rate can result in losses.
While acknowledging government’s fiscal constraints and efforts under austerity, he maintained that earlier intervention and better communication could have softened the blow, concluding that “government could have been a bit proactive because they saw this coming.
