Tinubu pushes for Africa’s shift from raw cocoa exports to local processing

President Bola Tinubu has called on African countries to end decades of exporting raw cocoa beans and focus on processing cocoa into finished products to capture a greater share of the global chocolate market.

Speaking at the Africa Cocoa Summit in Abuja on Tuesday, Tinubu said the continent must move from being a supplier of raw materials to a producer of globally competitive cocoa products. The summit was themed, “From Bean to Brand.”

Represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, the president noted that although Africa produces about 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa, it receives only a small fraction of the revenue generated by the global chocolate industry.

“We gathered in Abuja today not to lament that arithmetic. We gathered to end it,” he said.

Tinubu said Nigeria was committed to expanding local cocoa processing, manufacturing chocolate, developing indigenous brands and strengthening its position in the global value chain as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda and the country’s industrialisation drive.

He disclosed that investors are developing a 70,000-tonne cocoa processing plant in Shagamu, adding that Nigeria’s cocoa grinding capacity has already exceeded 120,000 tonnes annually.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the summit aligns with the Federal Government’s target of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030 through increased industrial production and value addition.

She said government policies, including manufacturing incentives, investment promotion and improved market access through the African Continental Free Trade Area, are designed to attract investment and boost the cocoa industry.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Industry, Sen. John Enoh, announced the formation of the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance involving Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, countries that collectively account for about 75 per cent of global cocoa production.

According to him, the alliance will deepen regional collaboration and help cocoa-producing nations retain more value by processing and marketing branded cocoa products instead of exporting raw beans.

The summit concluded with participating countries signing the Abuja Declaration on Cocoa Value Addition, reaffirming their commitment to strengthening Africa’s cocoa value chain.