The Global President of the Cocoa Farmers Alliance Association of Africa (COFAAA), Comrade Adeola Adegoke, has called for Africa to seize control of the global cocoa economy by setting its own prices, investing in local processing, and capturing greater value from its dominant market share.
Speaking at the African Cocoa Summit and Awards 2025 at the University of Ghana, Accra, Adegoke said Africa’s continued export of raw cocoa beans was an unsustainable model that enriched foreign processors and chocolate makers while keeping millions of African farmers in poverty.
“Africa produces 70% of the world’s cocoa yet receives less than 10% of the wealth it generates. That imbalance is not just economic — it is moral,” Adegoke declared. “It is time for Africa to move from price taker to price maker.”
He urged producing countries to build domestic processing industries capable of converting raw beans into finished cocoa products. Such a shift, he said, could generate billions in export revenue, create rural jobs, and reduce the continent’s exposure to volatile global prices.
“The era of exporting raw beans and importing finished chocolate must end,” he said. “Africa’s cocoa economy must be industrialised for Africans, by Africans.”
Adegoke warned that Africa could lose its global leadership to emerging producers such as Ecuador and Brazil, which are rapidly expanding local processing capacity. With coordinated policy, investment, and regional collaboration, he projected that Africa’s cocoa industry could grow into a $200 billion sector by 2030, anchored on processing, fair pricing, and sustainability.
Delegates at the summit identified three urgent priorities for reform:
- African-led cocoa governance — developing a unified pricing and trading framework that reflects Africa’s production dominance.
- Local processing and industrialisation — incentivising domestic factories through tax reliefs, infrastructure support, and access to finance.
- Farmer welfare and sustainability — improving incomes, tackling ageing farms, and promoting environmental stewardship to ensure long-term productivity.
Mr. Nana Yaw Reuben Jr., COFAAA’s Country Director for Ghana, stressed that global decisions on cocoa must no longer be made outside the continent.
“You cannot hold cocoa talks in Europe and expect Africa to benefit fully,” he said. “Cocoa must be recognised as an African economic asset — not a European commodity.”
Beyond pricing, Adegoke emphasised that inclusion and sustainability are central to the sector’s long-term competitiveness.
“We cannot claim to be building a sustainable cocoa economy when the farmers who grow our cocoa are hungry,” he said, urging for women and youth to be placed at the heart of reform.”
He noted that women contribute up to 70% of labour on cocoa farms but own only a fraction of the land, calling for gender-responsive policies and youth-focused investment in technology and agribusiness.
In closing, Adegoke unveiled COFAAA’s PPC Framework — a cooperative model integrating Producing, Processing, and Consuming countries — designed to retain more value within Africa’s cocoa value chain and ensure that the continent’s farmers finally reap the full rewards of their labour.
