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$200m boost for cocoa production
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has received US$200 million loan facility from a consortium of banks for the take-off of the Productivity Enhancement Programmes (PEPs).
The facility is the first tranche of a US$600 million credit from the banks signed in 2017 to enhance both cultivation of cocoa beans and the processing of same in the country.
Chief Executive Officer of the Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, who disclosed this in Accra yesterday at the launch of the syndicated loan facility for the PEPs said the facility has come at a right time to support the cocoa sector.
The facility will among others increase cocoa production through the PEPs, irrigation facilities, the expansion of warehousing capacity, processing and promotion of cocoa consumption, as well as, the creation of a reliable database required for the smooth distribution of inputs to farmers.
“We believe this loan will support us to strengthen the cocoa value chain, help alleviate poverty by increasing productivity and promoting a progressive cocoa consumption environment,” the CEO of COCOBOD said.
According to him, through the Board’s own resources, significant progress has been made in efforts to implement the PEPs to increase yield per hectare to at least 1000 kilograms.
For example the cocoa swollen shoot virus disease control programme which is in its second year in the Western and Eastern Regions, Mr Aidoo said, has seen the rehabilitation of several hectares of diseased farms.
Additionally, Mr Aidoo said the 2020 mass pruning exercise which began two months ago has been excellent; adding that, “We have achieved 100 per cent coverage of farm area, giving more prospects for higher yields.”
He assured the investors that the fund would be used judiciously to achieve the intent behind the programme.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, on his part said in government’s effort to ensure the provision of quality extension services and give farmers equal access to all of its interventions, “we have rolled out a cocoa management system which will enable us have adequate and accurate data of our farmers, farms, licensed buying companies input suppliers and other players in the cocoa value chain”.
The cocoa price volatility on the world market, Dr Akoto said, required that domestic processing was increased to ensure a stable income for farmers.
Linking local production and consumption, he said “amidst the current Coronavirus pandemic, I strongly believe that increased intake of cocoa with high concentration of flavanols and its associated components will help significantly in fighting the disease”.
Mr Yasumichi Araki, the Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the lead of the Consortium, hoping that the partnership would yield the needed result underscored the need for greater support for the protection of farmers’ livelihoods.
The rest of the firms making up the consortium include the Africa Development Bank, Development Bank of South Africa, Credit Suisse, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Italian investment firm CDP.
Source: Ghanaian Times
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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