Ghana’s Low Cocoa Crop Hammers Trade Surplus in First Two Months - Bloomberg

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Ghana’s Low Cocoa Crop Hammers Trade Surplus in First Two Months

  • African nation’s currency has fallen 8% so far this year
  • Adverse weather and disease have driven down cocoa output

A farmer dries cocoa beans at a farm in Kwabeng, Ghana.

Photographer: Paul Ninson/Bloomberg
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Ghana’s smaller cocoa harvest has hit the country’s external payments position as its trade surplus fell by more than half in the first two months, posing a risk to the cedi currency.

The West African nation’s trade surplus narrowed by 54% from a year earlier to $392.8 million for Jan-Feb, the Bank of Ghana said in a summary of economic and financial data posted on Friday. Revenue from cocoa exports fell by almost a third to $508.4 million, the central bank said.

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