The ongoing upheaval at Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has got some financiers involved in the company’s annual pre-export finance hot under the collar, but a source close to the deal says it’s too early to start fretting.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo dismissed Cocobod CEO Stephen Opuni shortly after he was sworn in last month. More recently, 11 members of senior management have reportedly been put on forced leave – including, supposedly, funders’ chief contact on the annual deal.

Senior staff members at the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC), a subsidiary of Cocobod, are also said to be faced with the same fate.

“It is a little early for the banks to be too concerned. However, they seem to want to start earlier and earlier. At the moment, drawdown has only recently finished and we have not even seen the first repayment date for the current facility,” says GTR’s source.

The 2016 PXF, worth US$1.8bn, was signed in Frankfurt on September 21 and included 23 banks. It was oversubscribed by US$640mn and was priced at 67.5bps above Libor.

The Ghanaian press has noted repeatedly that this is not the first public official to be dismissed by the Akufo-Addo-led government. In mid-January he also issued a directive asking all metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives to vacate their post with immediate effect.

It is also not the first time for a Cocobod CEO to be removed following a change of government. “I suspect if you look back at Ghana post-elections you will see that key positions in parastatals like Cocobod change when government changes,” says GTR’s source.