For decades, Africa has produced most of the world's cocoa while much of the wealth from chocolate manufacturing has been created elsewhere. That imbalance is now the focus of a major regional initiative, with Nigeria bringing together three of Africa's leading cocoa producers to pursue a new strategy centred on value addition.
The Federal Government is hosting Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon in Abuja for the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026, where the four countries are expected to launch a historic alliance aimed at reducing raw cocoa exports and expanding local processing, manufacturing and branding.
The summit, themed "From Bean to Brand," will see the countries sign the Abuja Declaration, creating a Cocoa Value Addition Alliance through which they will coordinate policies, harmonise standards and negotiate with global markets as a united bloc. Together, the four nations produce about two-thirds of the world's cocoa.
Nigeria will also sign a Cocoa Value Addition Accord, bringing together the federal government, governors of cocoa-producing states, farmer organisations, industry groups, researchers and development finance institutions to deliver measurable improvements in cocoa processing, farmers' incomes and investment.
The initiative was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja by Odenke Ibiang, Special Assistant, Media Office of the Minister of State for Industry.
Ahead of the summit, Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said Africa's cocoa-producing nations were ready to move beyond a century-old trade model that has left producing countries with only a small share of the industry's value.
"For a hundred years, Africa has sent its cocoa to the world in sacks and received it back in wrappers, paying at both ends of the transaction," Enoh said.
"The distance between a bean and a brand is measured in jobs and in dignity, and on Tuesday, in Abuja, four nations begin closing that distance together. We do not gather to lament the market. We gather to redesign our place in it."
The alliance will also coordinate common positions on international trade issues, beginning with the European Union Deforestation Regulation, which takes effect for large and medium-sized operators on December 30, 2026. The regulation requires cocoa exported to the European Union to be fully traceable to individual farms and verified as not contributing to deforestation. Member countries will advocate for recognition of their national traceability systems while insisting that compliance costs should not be transferred to smallholder farmers.
The move comes amid sharp volatility in global cocoa prices. Over the past 18 months, prices climbed above $11,000 per tonne, dropped to about $3,000 per tonne, and later recovered to around $5,000 per tonne, exposing producers to significant income uncertainty.
Under Nigeria's Cocoa Value Addition Accord, measurable targets will be set for expanding domestic processing, increasing farmers' earnings, strengthening the cocoa value chain and attracting new investment. Implementation will be overseen by a delivery council chaired by the Minister of State for Industry, with annual progress reports published to ensure transparency and accountability.
The summit will feature goodwill messages from the Ghana Cocoa Board and Côte d'Ivoire's Le Conseil du Café-Cacao, alongside a financing session involving the Bank of Industry, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and other development finance institutions, where major financing announcements are expected.
Participants will also receive updates on the construction of Nigeria's largest cocoa processing facility, a 70,000-metric-tonne plant being developed by Sunbeth Global Concepts in Sagamu, Ogun State, with commissioning scheduled for 2027.
Organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment through the Office of the Minister of State for Industry, with the Bank of Industry as co-convener, the summit forms part of the government's Nigeria Industrial Policy, which identifies agro-industrial value addition as a key driver of economic diversification, industrialisation, export expansion and job creation.
Nigeria is the world's fourth-largest cocoa producer, behind Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia, while Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana together account for more than half of global production.
By encouraging greater local processing, expanding manufacturing capacity and improving farmers' incomes, the proposed Cocoa Value Addition Alliance seeks to ensure that more of the value generated from Africa's cocoa remains on the continent, with Nigeria helping to drive a new chapter in the industry's development.
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