Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria have officially launched the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance in Abuja, an initiative aimed at strengthening local cocoa processing and coordinating their positions on international markets. The four countries, gathered at the “From Bean to Brand” summit, formalize this cooperation by signing the Abuja Declaration.
According to the organizers, the alliance is intended to allow the main African producers to better harmonize their policies, define common standards, and speak with one voice to buyers and regulators. Together, these four countries represent about two-thirds of global cocoa production, but a much smaller share of the value created by processing, manufacturing, and marketing chocolate, which is still largely concentrated outside the continent.
The stated goal is to increase the share of locally processed cocoa, attract new industrial investments, and improve the incomes of producers. In Abuja, the Nigerian Minister of Industry, John Owan Enoh, also indicated that this cooperation should support the establishment of national traceability systems and new financing mechanisms for industry players.
This initiative comes at a time of high volatility in global cocoa prices and as the European regulation against deforestation for large and medium operators is set to come into force by the end of 2026. The signatory countries want to defend a common position on traceability and the distribution of compliance costs, emphasizing that these burdens should not fall on small farmers.
The launch of this alliance marks a new step in the efforts to coordinate among African cocoa-producing countries, following the initiatives taken in recent years by Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. At this stage, it is not a cartel with production or export quotas, but a political and industrial framework aimed at increasing Africa’s weight in the global cocoa value chain.
