OFID IN THE FIELD
Deep development impact
At a time when overseas development aid is declining, private investment flows sometimes seem unaligned with sustainable development, and trade tensions are ongoing, OFID is working hard to strengthen its partnerships with other development actors and provide support where it’s needed most.
Better international cooperation is needed to ensure that sufficient finance and know- how exist to provide developing countries with the opportunity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With this in mind, the following pages provide a few examples of the many ways OFID works with others to deepen its development impact.
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Cocoa in Ghana: a strategically important commodity
New investment aims at strengthening a sustainable supply chain that promotes good agricultural, economic, social and environmental practices
L
ocated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, Ghana’s tropical climate is conducive to growing good quality cocoa beans. The West African country is the second largest cocoa
producer worldwide after nearby Côte d’Ivoire. The cocoa industry is strategically important to Ghana, providing some 21 percent of export revenues, accounting for about 3.5 percent of GDP and supporting around 800,000 farmer families. The privately owned Touton Group, one of the major cocoa traders with a significant world market share, has strong links to Ghana. It is one of the major off-takers of cocoa beans from the Ghana Cocoa Board and runs several cocoa sustainability programs in the country. OFID recently agreed to contribute US$20 million to a trade finance facility to Cocoa Touton Processing Company (CTPC), arranged by French bank Natixis. CTPC is Touton’s Ghanaian cocoa processing company, sourcing local cocoa beans and producing cocoa mass. The facility will be used for the purchase, storage, processing and sales of cocoa beans and cocoa products, as well as for the hedging of related commodity price risk. A consortium of major banks are also participating in the transaction, which will provide a total facility of up to US$150 million for CTPC. “This is a very important facility for us,” said
Touton’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Olivier Lieutard on a recent visit to OFID’s Vienna headquarters. “The facility will benefit Ghana’s cocoa industry, its farmers and ultimately the country’s economy. We already have 145 employees in CTPC Ghana and over 50 officers partnering with cocoa communities through Touton’s Sustainable Rep Office in Ghana. Working with OFID and its partners means
“The cornerstone of our cocoa business is our strong footing in countries where the ingredients are grown”
Touton Deputy Chief Executive Officer Olivier Lieutard
we can prepay goods coming from smallholder communities and expand our operations.” Touton is a leading agro-industrial company that delivers responsibly-sourced cocoa, coffee, vanilla and other natural ingredients to customers around the globe. “We have been a major player in the global cocoa trade for decades,” explained Lieutard. “In addition to sourcing cocoa beans, since 2015 Touton processes cocoa mass in Ghana. The cornerstone of our cocoa business is our strong footing in the countries where the ingredients are grown, which allows us to
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