Despite being the world’s largest producer of cocoa, Africa is yet to fully capitalize on its position in the global cocoa industry. Producing around 70% of the world’s cocoa, the continent astonishingly earns less than five percent of the profits generated from the global cocoa value chain.
In the latest episode of The BreakDown podcast, Sandra Babu-Boateng explores how this narrative can be reshaped to favor the continent and its people.
The central question remains: how can Africa, as the powerhouse of cocoa production, begin to truly benefit from its output? Did you know that Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana alone are responsible for over 50% of global cocoa production?
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Beyond these two giants, other significant cocoa-producing countries across the continent include Cameroon and Nigeria.
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According to a 2023 cocoa bean production report, Côte d’Ivoire led with 2,377,442 tonnes, followed by Ghana with 653,700 tonnes, Cameroon with 295,819 tonnes, and Nigeria with 284,232 tonnes.
Additional contributions came from the Democratic Republic of Congo (35,000 tonnes), Uganda (35,000 tonnes), Guinea (23,164 tonnes), Madagascar (20,000 tonnes), Liberia (20,000 tonnes), Sierra Leone (18,000 tonnes), Togo (15,000 tonnes), Tanzania (12,000 tonnes), Sao Tome and Principe (4,000 tonnes), Equatorial Guinea (1,000 tonnes), Angola (458 tonnes), the Central African Republic (135 tonnes), Gabon (104 tonnes), and Comoros (43 tonnes).
These figures highlight the dominant role West Africa—and the continent at large—plays in the global cocoa economy.
Yet, while Africa leads the world in cocoa production, countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire remain primarily exporters of raw cocoa beans. A vast majority of cocoa produced across West Africa is shipped overseas without undergoing local processing. The beans are exported mainly to Europe, the United States, and other regions, where they are transformed into chocolate and other high-value cocoa-based products.
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This export-driven approach to raw cocoa is economically disadvantageous to African nations. Despite doing the bulk of the labor-intensive production work, these countries see only a fraction of the final profit. The real money is made after the beans leave African soil—often by companies in developed economies that control processing, branding, and retail.
Even the farmers—the backbone of the cocoa industry—reap very little reward for their tireless efforts. Many dedicate their lives to cultivating cocoa, yet some have never even tasted the chocolate their beans help create. This stark reality underscores the imbalance within the cocoa value chain.
While there are entrepreneurs and initiatives working to promote local processing of cocoa beans in Africa, these efforts remain limited in scope and scale.
On The BreakDown podcast, Sandra Babu-Boateng shares insightful suggestions on how Africa can begin to reclaim value from its cocoa industry and transform its role from mere producer to processor and profit-maker.
Watch the full episode to learn more about the way forward, and don’t forget to subscribe to PanaGenius TV for more thought-provoking conversations and stories that matter to Africa and the Black community.
