President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast has conferred the National Award of Commander of the National Order of Cote d’Ivoire on the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, for his contribution to the introduction of the living income differential (LID).
The award is mainly reserved for individuals who have distinguished themselves in service to Ivory Coast.
President Ouattara conferred Aidoo with the honour at a ceremony in the Ivorian capital, Yamoussoukro, to mark the National Cocoa and Chocolate Day, the Ivorian equivalent of Ghana’s Cocoa Day celebration.
It was conferred on Mr Aidoo for leading the joint Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire negotiations to secure a new cocoa trading mechanism — the LID — for the two countries.
The COCOBOD CEO received the national award, along with his counterpart in Cote d’Ivoire, the Director-General of Le Council du Caffe-Cacao (CCC), Mr Ibrahim Kone Yves, who was also rewarded for playing a significant role in the process leading to the achievement of the LID.
Commenting on the receipt of the award, Aidoo pledged to deepen the collaboration between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the cocoa sector to help improve the incomes and livelihoods of cocoa farmers in the two countries.
The COCOBOD CEO expressed his profound gratitude to President Ouattara for conferring on him the high national honour.
He described the award as the “greatest recognition” he had obtained in his life.
He also paid glowing tribute to Mr Yves and his team for their contribution to the successful adoption and implementation of the LID.