By Stephen Okeke
Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon have agreed to
work together to reduce the export of raw cocoa beans, signing a joint
declaration aimed at increasing local processing and strengthening Africa's
position in the global cocoa industry.
The four countries signed the Abuja Declaration on Tuesday
during the 2026 Cocoa Value Addition Summit in Nigeria's capital. Together,
they account for about 75% of global cocoa production and say they plan to
negotiate with international buyers as a united bloc.
The agreement forms part of a wider effort by governments,
financial institutions and industry leaders to ensure that more cocoa grown in
Africa is processed into finished products such as butter, cocoa powder and
chocolate before export.
President Bola Tinubu, represented at the summit by the
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said Nigeria was
determined to end the long-standing practice of exporting raw cocoa while
importing finished chocolate products.
"Nigeria will no longer export raw beans while
importing finished value," the President said.
"We will grind our beans at home, press our butter at
home, make our chocolate at home, brand it at home and sell it to the world on
our own terms."
He also announced that investors are developing a
70,000-tonne cocoa processing plant in Sagamu, Ogun State, which he described
as the largest such facility in the country's history. He added that Nigeria's
installed cocoa grinding capacity now exceeds 120,000 tonnes each year and said
the Bank of Industry (BOI) has financing available for viable cocoa investment
projects.
The Managing Director of the BOI, Olasupo Olusi, said
Nigeria currently produces more than 300,000 tonnes of cocoa annually, yet only
around 50,000 tonnes of its processing capacity is being used.
According to him, the bank disbursed more than N164bn to
over 3,500 agro-processing businesses in 2025 and secured a €60m credit
facility from the European Investment Bank to support cocoa value addition. He
said dedicated funding would now be made available for cocoa processing,
ingredient production, packaging and chocolate manufacturing.
"We are not approaching cocoa as a lending programme;
we are building an industrial ecosystem," Olusi said.
The Minister of State for Industry, John Owan Enoh, said the
alliance would help African cocoa-producing countries capture a larger share of
the global chocolate market, estimated to be worth more than $130bn.
He said member countries would also adopt a common position
on the European Union's Deforestation Regulation, which is due to take effect
for large and medium-sized cocoa operators from 30 December 2026. According to
him, the bloc wants recognition for national traceability systems and opposes
transferring compliance costs to small-scale farmers.
Enoh also announced that Nigeria had adopted a Cocoa Value
Addition Accord, bringing together the federal government, cocoa-producing
states, farmer organisations, industry groups and development finance
institutions to pursue measurable targets for local processing and higher
farmer incomes. He said a delivery council would monitor implementation and
publish annual progress reports.
Speaking at the summit, the Chief Executive of the Ghana
Cocoa Board, Ransford Abbey, said Africa produces between 75% and 77% of the
world's cocoa but earns less than 10% of the value generated by the global
chocolate industry.
"We do not need charity. We deserve equity," he
said, adding that African producers should process more of their own cocoa,
improve returns for farmers and negotiate internationally with a stronger
collective voice.
Abbey also noted that global cocoa prices had dropped
sharply after rising above $11,000 per tonne in late 2024, prompting both Ghana
and Côte d'Ivoire to reduce producer prices. The summit concluded with
participating countries formally adopting both the Abuja Declaration and the
Cocoa Value Addition Accord as a framework for closer regional cooperation.
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