Ghana to hand over 50,000 bags of grain to ECOWAS to repay debt — MyJoyOnline

The Government of Ghana has instructed the National Food Buffer Stock Company, NAFCO, to allocate 50,000 bags of grain to the Economic Community of West African States to settle the country’s outstanding obligation to ECOWAS, MyJoyOnline reports.

Debt from a grain loan

Minister of Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku said the directive was issued by President John Dramani Mahama. According to him, the obligation arose from a 2018 grain borrowing agreement to support the school feeding programme.

Opoku said that NAFCO warehouses hold 20,433 metric tonnes of grain, which, in his assessment, is sufficient to repay the loan. He also noted that the company had procured more than enough produce to settle the borrowing.

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NAFCO stocks and performance

The minister linked the ability to return the grain to increased domestic agricultural production under the Feed Ghana programme. According to the figures he cited, Ghana produced 4.6 million tonnes of maize in 2025, against estimated domestic demand of 3.6 million tonnes, resulting in a surplus of about 1 million tonnes.

Opoku also reported an improvement in NAFCO’s financial performance. According to him, the company moved from a net loss of 19 billion cedis in 2024 to a profit before tax of 91.7 billion cedis in 2025. Gross margin rose from 1.61% to 13.96%.

NAFCO Chief Executive Officer George Abradu-Otoo said the company had strengthened auditing, procurement procedures and food safety controls. He added that work was ongoing to establish food storage warehouses in every district of Ghana.