President Bola Tinubu has declared an end to Africa’s reliance on raw cocoa exports, vowing to capture greater value from the global chocolate industry through domestic processing and brand development.
Speaking at the Africa Cocoa Summit in Abuja, themed “From Bean to Brand,” the President—represented by Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari—highlighted a stark disparity: Africa produces approximately 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa yet retains merely six cents of every dollar generated by the chocolate industry.
“We gathered in Abuja today not to lament that arithmetic. We gathered to end it,” Tinubu declared.
The President outlined Nigeria’s commitment to processing cocoa beans domestically, manufacturing chocolate, and building local brands capable of competing on the global stage. He positioned value addition as central to his administration’s Renewed Hope agenda and the nation’s broader industrialisation strategy.
Tinubu revealed that investors are developing a 70,000-tonne cocoa processing facility in Sagamu, Ogun State, adding that Nigeria’s grinding capacity has already surpassed 120,000 tonnes annually.
Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Jumoke Oduwole affirmed that the summit aligns with the government’s target of building a one trillion-dollar economy by 2030. She acknowledged that Nigeria captures only a fraction of cocoa’s true value despite its significant production contribution.
Oduwole confirmed that the federal government is actively supporting value addition through manufacturing incentives, investment promotion, and enhanced inter-agency collaboration. She also highlighted improved market access via existing trade partnerships and the African Continental Free Trade Area, urging investors to leverage regional and global value chains to unlock the sector’s potential.
Minister of State for Industry John Enoh described the summit as a significant step in implementing Nigeria’s Industrial Policy. He announced the formation of the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance, uniting Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon—nations accounting for roughly 75 per cent of global cocoa production.
“We are not here to disrupt existing partnerships but to expand them,” Enoh stated, urging African nations to transcend raw bean exports and focus on producing branded cocoa products for international markets.
The summit concluded with participating countries signing the Abuja Declaration on Cocoa Value Addition, signalling a collective commitment to reshaping the continent’s cocoa sector.