Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon are set to launch a historic alliance aimed at ending the export of raw cocoa beans and increasing local processing across Africa.
The four countries, which account for about two-thirds of global cocoa production, are expected to sign the Abuja Declaration at the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026 scheduled to hold in Abuja on Tuesday.
The agreement will establish a Cocoa Value Addition Alliance to coordinate policies, harmonise standards, promote local processing and strengthen Africa’s bargaining power in the global cocoa market.
Nigeria is also expected to sign a separate Cocoa Value Addition Accord, bringing together federal and state governments, farmer groups, industry stakeholders, researchers and development finance institutions to improve cocoa processing, increase farmer incomes and attract investment into the sector.
According to a statement issued by the Special Assistant, Media Office of the Minister of State for Industry, Odenke Ibiang, the summit, themed “From Bean to Brand,” marks a major shift in Africa’s approach to cocoa production and trade.
Speaking ahead of the event, the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said cocoa-producing nations were determined to reverse decades of exporting raw beans while receiving only a fraction of the value generated from finished cocoa products.
“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 is expected to enable member countries to negotiate collectively with international buyers, adopt common industry standards and present a unified position on issues affecting the global cocoa trade.
One of its immediate priorities will be the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation, which takes effect on December 30, 2026. Under the regulation, cocoa exported to the EU must be traceable to individual farms and proven not to have contributed to deforestation.
The alliance is expected to push for recognition of national traceability systems while insisting that compliance costs should not be transferred to smallholder farmers.
The summit comes amid significant volatility in global cocoa prices. International cocoa prices surged above $11,000 per tonne before dropping to around $3,000 per tonne and later recovering to about $5,000 per tonne, exposing producers to sharp income fluctuations.
As part of Nigeria’s commitments, the Cocoa Value Addition Accord will establish measurable targets for expanding domestic processing, boosting farmers’ earnings, attracting investment and strengthening the country’s cocoa value chain.
Implementation will be supervised by a delivery council chaired by the Minister of State for Industry, with annual progress reports to be published to ensure transparency and accountability.
The summit will also 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 and other development finance institutions.
Participants will also receive updates on the construction of a 70,000-metric-tonne cocoa processing facility being developed by Sunbeth Global Concepts in Sagamu, Ogun State, which is expected to be commissioned in 2027.
Nigeria is currently the world’s fourth-largest cocoa producer after Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia. Despite producing the majority of the world’s cocoa beans, African countries continue to earn only a small share of the value generated by the global chocolate industry due to limited local processing and manufacturing capacity.
