The Ghanaian parliament has approved Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod)’s 2013 pre-export finance (PXF) transaction.

As GTR reported in May, the US$1.2bn deal is smaller than 2011 and 2012’s editions and has been arranged by First Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Crédit Agricole and Société Générale.

This year, three groups of banks bid for the transaction, an increase on last year’s single group of 13 banks. It is thought that this led to Cocobod accepting less satisfactory terms. More competition will have given Cocobod more flexibility in discussing terms.

The Cocobod PXF has been internationally syndicated since 1994. This year, it will be used to purchase 830,000 tonnes of cocoa.