BREAKING: TINUBU UNVEILS BOLD PLAN TO END RAW COCOA EXPORTS, PUSHES NIGERIA TOWARD LOCAL CHOCOLATE PRODUCTION

TINUBU UNVEILS BOLD PLAN TO END RAW COCOA EXPORTS, PUSHES NIGERIA TOWARD LOCAL CHOCOLATE PRODUCTION


President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a major policy shift aimed at transforming Nigeria's cocoa industry, declaring that the country will no longer rely on exporting raw cocoa beans without adding value through local processing.

The President made the declaration on Tuesday at the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026 in Abuja. He was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, at the event, which brought together government officials, investors, development partners and stakeholders in the cocoa industry.

According to Tinubu, Nigeria is determined to build a stronger cocoa value chain by processing cocoa locally into products such as cocoa butter and chocolate before exporting them to international markets. He said the move is expected to create jobs, attract investment, increase foreign exchange earnings and strengthen the country's non-oil economy.

The summit, themed "From Bean to Brand: The Bean in My Hand, The Brand in Our Future," focused on strategies for expanding cocoa processing across Africa and reducing the continent's dependence on exporting raw agricultural commodities.

Tinubu noted that although Africa produces about 70 percent of the world's cocoa, it earns only a small share of the global chocolate market because most processing and manufacturing take place outside the continent.

He highlighted ongoing investments in Nigeria's cocoa sector, including the construction of a 70,000-ton cocoa processing facility in Sagamu, while revealing that the country's cocoa grinding capacity has exceeded 120,000 tonnes annually and continues to grow.

The President also disclosed that more than 300,000 Nigerian farming families cultivate cocoa on over 1.4 million hectares of farmland, with cocoa contributing significantly to Nigeria's non-oil export earnings.

Speaking at the summit, the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said the Federal Government's objective is to export finished cocoa products rather than raw beans. He described value addition as a key component of Nigeria's industrialisation agenda and a critical step toward achieving the country's ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, reaffirmed the bank's commitment to supporting investments across the cocoa value chain. He announced that the bank had secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank to finance cocoa processing, packaging, ingredient manufacturing and chocolate production.

Olusi said the Bank of Industry disbursed over ₦164 billion to more than 3,500 agro-processing businesses in 2025, while also connecting nearly 48,000 smallholder farmers to industrial value chains.

The summit also featured calls for stronger collaboration among Africa's major cocoa-producing countries. Ghana Cocoa Board Chief Executive, Ransford Abbey, urged Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to strengthen regional cooperation to improve Africa's influence in the global cocoa market and retain more value from cocoa production.

The event concluded with the adoption of the Cocoa Value Addition Accord and the proposed Abuja Declaration, both aimed at promoting domestic processing, increasing investments, improving farmers' incomes and strengthening cooperation among Africa's leading cocoa-producing nations.

The Federal Government says the initiative forms part of its broader strategy to diversify Nigeria's economy, expand industrial production, boost non-oil exports and create sustainable employment opportunities.

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