Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has said that Africa must decisively expand into chocolate manufacturing and other downstream industries to unlock greater value from its dominant cocoa production.
Delivering a keynote address at the maiden Africa Cocoa Finance & Investment Forum (ACFIF 2026) at the London Stock Exchange, John Agyekum Kufuor stressed that the continent can no longer remain a marginal player in the most profitable segments of the cocoa value chain.
He noted that while Africa produces about 70% of the world’s cocoa beans, it accounts for less than 20% of global processing and under 2% of finished chocolate output – leaving the bulk of value creation offshore.
“The true economic value lies in chocolate manufacturing, branding, innovation, and long-term capital deployment,” he said, warning that the current structure leaves African producers with roughly 10% of the value chain.
John Agyekum Kufuor described the forum as a critical platform to address long-standing structural imbalances, bringing together financiers, policymakers, and industry players to mobilise capital and drive industrialisation across the cocoa ecosystem.
Drawing on Ghana’s experience, he highlighted past policy interventions that boosted output and processing capacity, including disease control programmes, farmer pricing reforms, and deliberate investments in local processing.
However, he argued that Africa’s cocoa transformation now requires coordinated continental action, anchored on long-term investment and industrial scaling.
He outlined four key pathways to building a resilient cocoa economy by 2040, including farmer prosperity and youth inclusion, value addition and industrial scaling, capital, climate, and long-term investment.
“Africa must decisively expand into chocolate manufacturing, nutraceuticals, functional foods, and pharmaceutical applications. Cocoa’s health benefits – rich in antioxidants and flavonoids – remain grossly under-exploited, despite growing global demand.
“The third pathway is Capital, Climate, and Long-Term Investment, which is perhaps the most significant gap in Africa’s cocoa sector to achieve sustainability. Addressing climate risk, industrial scaling, and job creation will not be possible without financing structures that reflect the biological realities of the times, including carbon-capture finance and the long timelines of manufacturing.
“Short-term financing cycles are fundamentally incompatible with cocoa’s production cycle and with the infrastructure investments required for processing and manufacturing,” John Agyekum Kufuor stated.
The former president called on investors and private sector players to translate discussions at ACFIF into bankable projects, positioning cocoa as a key driver of industrialisation and inclusive growth across the continent.
