President Tinubu has called for an end to the country’s reliance on raw cocoa bean exports, unveiling a national push toward local processing and chocolate manufacturing at the Africa Cocoa Summit in Abuja.
Represented by Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari, Tinubu said Africa produces about 70% of the world’s cocoa but retains barely six cents of every dollar generated by the $130 billion global chocolate industry, because processing and branding happen abroad. “We gathered in Abuja today not to lament that arithmetic. We gathered to end it,” he said.
Bank of Industry CEO Olasupo Olusi said the bank disbursed over ₦164 billion in 2025 to more than 3,500 agro-processing businesses and secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank dedicated to cocoa processing and chocolate manufacturing.
Minister of State for Industry John Enoh announced plans for a four-country Cocoa Value Addition Alliance with Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, together accounting for roughly 75% of global output. Enoh says the alliance will strengthen regional cooperation and enable producing countries to capture more value from the global cocoa market.
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