I.Coast cocoa traders demand more local market share

Cocoa traders in Ivory Coast attacked a “monopoly” of the world’s major buyers of chocolate raw materials on Tuesday and called on local traders to gain a greater share of the national market.

During the last Ivorian confrontation with international players in the chocolate sector, the Ivorian Traders Group (GNI) said it was time to “end the monopoly” of six companies that dominate purchases of locally grown cocoa.

“The six multinationals that make purchases in Côte d’Ivoire through their subsidiaries should absolutely be required to systematically award 20 to 30 percent of their contracts to Ivorian processors and exporters,” GNI spokesperson Fabien Guei said. .

The six are Barry Callebaut and Ecom from Switzerland; Olam from Singapore; the American giant Cargill; and the French groups Sucden and Touton.

Together, they buy almost all of Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa harvest, more than 80 percent of which is then shipped to Europe.

Ivory Coast. By (AFP)

“It is not a question of driving them out of the Ivorian market but of allowing Ivorian operators to be a sustainable player in the marketing of their country’s cocoa abroad, and in a fairer and more balanced way”, argued Guei.

Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer, has repeatedly pressured foreign giants to pay more and for Ivorian companies to get a larger share of value-added activities, such as processing, rather than remain a primary source.

“These multinationals are prioritizing the sourcing and exporting of (cocoa) beans through their subsidiaries in Côte d’Ivoire,” Guei said, saying this amounted to “a drag on local processing”.

Côte d’Ivoire accounts for 40 percent of world cocoa production. The sector accounts for 40 percent of the country’s export earnings and 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Bank.

It produces around two million tonnes of cocoa per year, but less than a quarter of it is processed locally.

The RNB represents Ivorian companies that export and process coffee and cocoa. In the cocoa sector, its members include 12 exporters and three processors, representing 300,000 tonnes per year.

About one in five of the Ivorian population depends on the cocoa sector. Many live in poverty despite the explosion in global demand for chocolate.