An eleven-member Board of Directors for the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been officially inaugurated at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance, with a strong call to urgently revamp the country’s struggling cocoa industry.


The newly constituted board is chaired by Dr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, and includes several prominent figures: Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson; Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama; Chief Executive, Randy Abbey; Alhaji Alhassan Kobina Ghansah; Vincent Oppong Asamoah; Deputy Minister for Trade, Samson Ahi; Deputy Minister for Agriculture, John Dumelo; Alhaji Alhassan Bukari; Nana Charles Owusu; and Eric Turkson.

The ceremony was chaired by Energy Minister John Jinapor, who also serves as the Alternate Minister for Finance. In his address, Mr. Jinapor congratulated the board members but sounded a note of urgency about COCOBOD’s declining performance.

He highlighted that cocoa production, which once reached 1 million metric tonnes, has now dropped to nearly 500,000 metric tonnes, signaling deep-seated challenges in the sector.

“COCOBOD was once the pride of our economy, but it has suffered significant setbacks. We are confident, however, that this new board has the competence and integrity to turn things around,” he stated.

Finance Minister Dr. Ato Forson, in his remarks, expressed appreciation for the opportunity to once again serve on the COCOBOD board, having done so previously in his capacity as Deputy Finance Minister.

He noted that the current legislation governing COCOBOD requires the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to be board members.

Dr. Forson described cocoa as the “jewel of the economy,” lamenting years of poor management that have hindered the sector's growth. He revealed that the government plans to establish plantation farms by acquiring approximately 200 hectares of cocoa land, with the goal of restoring national production to 1 million metric tonnes.

He further tasked the board with tackling the problem of diseased cocoa farms, especially in the Western Region, which has significantly affected productivity. He assured the board of the Finance Ministry’s full support in their reform efforts.

Board Chairman Dr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the confidence placed in the board. He described the appointment as both an honour and a responsibility, and pledged to lead a transformational agenda to restore COCOBOD as a pillar of Ghana’s economy.

“We are committed to resetting, retooling, and reimagining COCOBOD to position it for sustainable growth and impact,” Dr. Ampofo said.

He also called on politicians and public figures to lead by example by engaging in farming, encouraging the younger generation to take interest in agriculture as a viable and rewarding venture.