Accra, Jan. 2, GNA - Mr. Anthony Fofie, Deputy Chief Executive in- charge of Agronomy and Quality Control of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has been appointed as Chief Executive of the Board.

A release issued by the Public Affairs Department of the Board said the appointment, which was made by President John Agyekum Kufuor on December 16, 2008, takes effect from January 1, 2009, in accordance with section 12 (2) of the Ghana Cocoa Board Act, 1984 PNDC Law 81.

Mr. Fofie replaces Mr. Isaac Osei who resigned as Chief Executive of the Board effective December 31, 2008 following his election as Member of Parliament for the Subin in the Ashanti Region.

Mr. Fofie, who hails from Kete Krachi in the Volta Region, who has served for 34 years in the cocoa industry, joined COCOBOD in 1974 as an Agricultural Officer and rose through the ranks to become the Regional Manager for the Volta and Western Regions of the Cocoa Services Division between 1991 and 2000. In 2000 he was promoted to the position of Executive Director of Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease Control Unit of the Board, a position he held until 2004 when he was appointed the Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Agronomy and Quality Control.

The release said being the most senior Deputy Chief Executive, he always acted as the Chief Executive in the absence of the substantive Chief Executive.

Mr. Fofie had his secondary education at Bishop Herman College, Kpando, from 1963 to 1970 and continued his education at the University of Science and Technology where he obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Agriculture in 1974. He had a Certificate of Planning and Appraisal of Rural Development Projects at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom in 1979.

In March 1981, Mr Fofie was awarded a certificate in Business Management by the Mananga Agricultural Management Centre in Swaziland. Mr. Fofie holds an Executive MBA from the Ghana Institute of Management and Business Administration (GIMPA) also has an MSc in Agricultural Extension from the University of Reading, United Kingdom (1992). He is a member of a number of local and international boards/committees including the Sustainable Tree Crops programme, Tema Chemicals Limited, Cadbury Cocoa Partnership Programme, International Cocoa Verification Board, Impact Ghana Coordination Group - Mars Incorporated.

The release said as the Deputy Chief Executive in-charge of Agronomy and Quality Control, Mr. Fofie has contributed immensely to the recent increase in cocoa production the country has attained. He is married with four children.