Ghana Cocoa Board says its plans to raise US$1.3 billion through a syndicate of banks is on course and not affected by the perceived risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the launch of a US$600million receivable-backed loan on Tuesday, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, said the Board was currently negotiating the terms of the proposals with the Banks.

He said COCOBOD issued Requests for Proposals in February 2020 to International Banks to raise the funds for the 2020/2021 cocoa purchases.

"On the 12th of June, 2020, the financial institutions including; COCOBOD's traditional Banks submitted their proposals," he said, adding that evaluation of the proposals was held on 18th June 2020 by an in-house committee with representatives from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana.

"So, COCOBOD is currently negotiating the terms of the proposals with the Banks; which is the normal practice. Once the terms are finalised, all due processes will be followed through to their logical conclusion, up to the signing of the facility which is expected in September 2020," Mr Aidoo said.

He assured COCOBOD's stakeholders and partners that the process was moving steadily and that the Board expected everything to remain on schedule.

Meanwhile, Mr Aidoo said COCOBOD had paid its 2019/2020 loan facility in June 2020, three months ahead of schedule, even in this time of COVID-19.