Your account has been succesfully created.
EN FR
Scroll through edition
West African cocoa cartel battles with the traders
Cocoa beans drying in the sun in Ivory Coast. © Jürgen Bätz/DPA/picture-alliance/Newscom/MaxPPP

Running story
West African cocoa cartel battles with the traders

By jointly introducing a premium of $400 per tonne on cocoa beans in autumn 2020, Ivory Coast and Ghana were seeking to ensure that cocoa producers' revenues were maintained. In so doing, however, they sparked off an open war with the big commodity traders, who have since taken steps to get round the measure and avoid paying the premium. This battle of wills has paralysed a sector which has already been badly affected by Covid-19 and speeded up the transformation of the trading sector, encouraging Ghana and Ivory Coast to trade their cocoa beans on their own account.

West African cocoa cartel battles with the traders
Cocoa beans drying in the sun in Ivory Coast. © Jürgen Bätz/DPA/picture-alliance/Newscom/MaxPPP

Ivory Coast
Singapore's JB Cocoa factory project on stand-by in Abidjan

The chocolate subsidiary of the giant JB Foods has halted construction of its cocoa processing plant at Yopougon Akoupé Zeudji.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 22.04.2025

Ivory Coast
Ivorian traders clash with cocoa giants Barry Callebaut and Olam

Several members of the Groupement des Négociants Ivoiriens are refusing to sell the volumes of beans contracted with the Belgian-Swiss and Singaporean groups unless the latter pay them more than the regulated price. This practice is prohibited by law.

Yves Brahima Koné, Conseil Café-Cacao's general manager, in Abidjan, 2 April 2024.
LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 26.02.2025
Yves Brahima Koné, Conseil Café-Cacao's general manager, in Abidjan, 2 April 2024.

Ghana, Ivory Coast
International Finance Corporation mulls major loan to Swiss cocoa trader Ecom

The sum in question is $230m.

LogoSubscribers only Finance, Commodity traders 05.12.2024

Ivory Coast
Ouattara abolishes tax exemptions for multinational cocoa manufacturers operating locally

Multinationals that own cocoa bean processing plants in Ivory Coast will no longer benefit from a tax exemption on the droit unique de sortie (DUS, single exit tax), the main state tax on exports.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 02.12.2024

Nigeria
Cocoa industry relieved at delay in EU anti-deforestation regulation

The Nigerian cocoa market, which is made up of small-scale producers and is largely deregulated, fears the impact of the European legislation on its exports. The industry is trying to rally support for its cause.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 22.11.2024

Ivory Coast
Cocoa industry watchdog tightens price controls

With Ivorian traders accusing international firms of overpaying for their cocoa, the industry regulator, Conseil Café-Cacao, led by Yves Brahima Koné, is looking into the matter. The Groupement des Négociants Ivoiriens is also holding talks.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 29.10.2024

Inner circles | Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria
Michel Arrion, the cocoa diplomat with a global network

Executive director of the International Cocoa Organisation since January 2019 and triumphantly re-elected last December, the Belgian ambassador has managed to revive an ageing body and open it up to the private sector and NGOs.

Michel Arrion, the executive director of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 15 May 2019.
LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 07.06.2024
Michel Arrion, the executive director of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 15 May 2019.

Ivory Coast
Syngenta fails to thrive in Abidjan's agriculture sector

Syngenta, the leading Swiss crop protection and seed development specialist, which ChemChina acquired in 2017, is struggling to do business in the cocoa and banana sectors in Ivory Coast.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 21.05.2024

Ivory Coast
Conseil Café-Cacao declares war on cocoa operators with Lebanese ties

Yves Koné, the head of the cocoa industry watchdog, has suspended the operations of several cooperatives that are suspected of buying and reselling beans above the regulated price.

Yves Brahima Koné, head of the Conseil Café-Cacao, in Abidjan on 2 April 2024.
Free access Commodity traders 17.05.2024
Yves Brahima Koné, head of the Conseil Café-Cacao, in Abidjan on 2 April 2024.

Ivory Coast
Conseil Café-Cacao to compensate exporters for unfulfilled contracts

The regulatory body has given in to traders' demands for compensation for cocoa purchasing contracts that were not executed during the season ending 31 March because of the poor harvest.

Ivorian minister of agriculture Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani (left) and Yves Brahima Koné, director general of the Conseil Café-Cacao, in Abidjan, 2 April 2024.
LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 13.05.2024
Ivorian minister of agriculture Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani (left) and Yves Brahima Koné, director general of the Conseil Café-Cacao, in Abidjan, 2 April 2024.

Cameroon
Deforestation: Trade minister advocates for Cameroonian cocoa sector in Brussels

Trade Minister Luc Magloire Atangana visited Brussels from 19 to 26 April to defend the interests of the cocoa industry in Cameroon, which is a middleweight producer compared to heavyweights like Ivory Coast and Ghana.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 07.05.2024

Ivory Coast
Coffee and cocoa board boss gives multinationals some respite

Yves Brahima Koné, the head of the Conseil Café-Cacao, has decided to calm relations between his organisation and exporters who have been unable to fulfil their contracts for the main harvest season.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 10.04.2024

Ivory Coast
Cargill loses its cocoa pole position

The American trading giant is now only the third-largest exporter of beans from Ivory Coast.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 14.03.2024

Ivory Coast
Cargill and Barry Callebaut cocoa plants may grind to halt

Most of the major traders had anticipated a production drop of between 20% and 25%. However, almost 50% of the volumes sold by the Conseil Café-Cacao will not materialise before the end of the 2023-2024 harvest.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 02.02.2024

Ivory Coast
Local cocoa exporters are short of beans

Ivorian cocoa exporters like Africa Sourcing, Kineden and Ecookim have been unable to match the terms offered by the big international groups, who have tripled planters' bonuses. They have managed to execute only 40% of the contracts they signed for the 2023-2024 season.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 12.12.2023

Ivory Coast
Abidjan bides time on tax incentives extension for local cocoa processing

Cocoa giants Cargill, Barry Callebaut and Olam, which have been investing heavily in industry in Ivory Coast since 2016, have still not received a guarantee from government that it will continue with a tax policy that favoured local processing.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 06.12.2023

Ghana, Ivory Coast
Abidjan and Accra cross swords over cocoa

The difficult marketing campaign for the 2023-2024 harvest is undermining cooperation between the two West African giants in the sector.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 05.12.2023

Ivory Coast
Cocoa regulator's credibility on line over 2023-2024 season

The cocoa selling season in Ivory Coast is turning into a fiasco for the Conseil Café Cacao, which traders have accused of promising non-existent quantities of beans.

Preparing bags of cocoa beans on an Ivorian farm, October 2023.
LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 16.11.2023
Preparing bags of cocoa beans on an Ivorian farm, October 2023.

Ivory Coast
Cocoa: Abidjan faces boycott from trading giants after sales open

Having just opened advance sales for the 2024-2025 harvest, the Conseil Café Cacao is now facing a refusal from the major traders to match the prices set by Abidjan.

A farmer works with cocoa beans at a farm in Adzope town, southern Ivory Coast, 13 October 2023.
LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 31.10.2023
A farmer works with cocoa beans at a farm in Adzope town, southern Ivory Coast, 13 October 2023.

Ivory Coast
On a visit to Brussels, Conseil Café Cacao revives battle with EU

Ivorian cocoa industry leaders have met European officials to demand recognition of their traceability system and an increase in the subsidy for sustainable cocoa. If it's not granted, they are threatening to continue blocking forward sales.

LogoSubscribers only Commodity traders 15.09.2023

Stay updated on this topic

Cocoa beans drying in the sun in Ivory Coast.

Running story
West African cocoa cartel battles with the traders

Our other running stories

All Running stories

Sign up for real-time alerts and be notified of new editions!  

Once registered, you will be notified by a short message on your computer or mobile phone as soon as a new edition of our publication or an alert is published. Stay informed anytime, anywhere!