Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have renewed calls for greater local processing of cocoa, arguing that African producers must capture a larger share of the profits generated by the global chocolate industry.
The call emerged from the 7th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), whose conclusions were presented by Ghana’s Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, at the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana High-Level Summit on the Future of the Cocoa Economy.
“Africa produces 80% of the world’s cocoa but captures a negligible share of the sector’s profits,” the committee said.
The committee described the situation as unsustainable and reaffirmed the need to accelerate processing and industrialisation within cocoa-producing countries.
According to the committee, priority actions include expanding national cocoa processing capacity, encouraging regional and continental trade, and increasing domestic consumption of cocoa-based products.
“The Steering Committee emphasized that greater value addition will contribute to job creation, industrial development, export diversification, and better retention of income within producing countries,” Dr Forson said.
The renewed push reflects growing concern among African producers that most of the value generated from cocoa is captured outside producing countries through processing, manufacturing, branding and retail activities.
While Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire together account for majority of global cocoa production, much of the crop is exported in raw or semi-processed form, with the highest-value activities taking place in Europe, North America and Asia.
The committee said increasing local processing would help transform cocoa-producing economies by creating manufacturing jobs and reducing dependence on exports of raw commodities.
Officials also stressed the importance of promoting trade in cocoa products within Africa and building stronger regional markets for chocolate and other cocoa-based goods.
The value-addition agenda forms part of broader efforts by Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to reshape the economics of the cocoa sector and ensure producing countries benefit more from a global industry worth billions of dollars annually.
The committee said strengthening local industry would be critical to building a more resilient and prosperous cocoa economy capable of delivering greater returns to producing countries and their farmers.
