President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that Nigeria will no longer rely on exporting raw cocoa beans, unveiling a comprehensive strategy to transform the country’s cocoa industry through local processing, industrialisation and value addition.
The announcement was made on Tuesday during the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026 in Abuja, where the President, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the Federal Government is determined to ensure Nigeria earns more from its cocoa resources by producing finished products instead of exporting raw materials.
Speaking on the summit’s theme, From Bean to Brand: The Bean in My Hand, The Brand in Our Future, Tinubu said the era of shipping unprocessed cocoa overseas while importing finished chocolate products must come to an end.
According to the President, Africa produces nearly 70 percent of the world’s cocoa, yet receives only a small fraction of the global chocolate industry’s value because processing, branding and manufacturing largely take place outside the continent.
He stressed that Nigeria is repositioning itself to capture more value from the cocoa supply chain.
Nigeria will no longer export raw beans while importing finished value. We will grind our beans at home, press our butter at home, make our chocolate at home, brand it at home and sell it to the world on our own terms,” Tinubu declared.
The President revealed that the country is already making significant progress, citing the construction of a 70,000-tonne cocoa processing facility in Sagamu, which will become Nigeria’s largest cocoa processing plant upon completion.
He also disclosed that the nation’s cocoa grinding capacity has now exceeded 120,000 tonnes annually, with additional investments expected to further expand processing capacity.
Tinubu noted that more than 300,000 farming families cultivate cocoa across approximately 1.4 million hectares nationwide, making Nigeria one of the world’s leading cocoa producers with about six to seven percent of global output.
He explained that cocoa generated over ₦3 trillion in export earnings when international prices exceeded $10,000 per tonne, contributing nearly one-quarter of Nigeria’s non-oil exports.
However, he maintained that exporting raw cocoa no longer represents the best economic strategy.
“There has never been a better time for processing at the source,” the President said, adding that Nigeria is open to investors willing to establish cocoa processing and manufacturing facilities.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, described the summit as a major milestone in implementing President Tinubu’s industrialisation agenda.
According to him, Nigeria’s focus has shifted from celebrating export volumes to maximising value before cocoa leaves the country.
“We are no longer interested in exporting anonymous sacks of cocoa. Our focus is on exporting value. If Nigeria truly wants to build a $1 trillion economy, we cannot continue exporting raw materials while other countries generate the real wealth through processing and branding,” Enoh said.
The minister, who reflected on his childhood growing up in cocoa-producing communities in Cross River State, lamented that despite decades of cocoa production, many producing states still lack modern processing facilities.
The Federal Government also announced plans to strengthen collaboration with Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon by establishing a regional cocoa alliance capable of controlling nearly 75 percent of global cocoa production.
The proposed partnership is expected to improve Africa’s bargaining power in international markets while promoting regional processing, coordinated pricing, traceability and investment across the cocoa value chain.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Dr. Olasupo Olusi, pledged long-term financing to accelerate investments throughout Nigeria’s cocoa value chain.
He disclosed that BOI disbursed over ₦164 billion to more than 3,500 agro-processing and food businesses in 2025, supporting factories, warehouses, mills and cold-chain infrastructure while linking approximately 48,000 smallholder farmers to industrial value chains.
Olusi also announced that the bank had secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank to finance cocoa processing, ingredient manufacturing, packaging and chocolate production.
“Our objective is not simply to provide loans but to build a complete industrial ecosystem that supports everyone from cocoa nurseries and cooperatives to chocolate manufacturers,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Ransford Abbey, urged Nigeria and Cameroon to formally join the existing Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire cocoa partnership.
He argued that Africa currently produces between 75 and 77 percent of the world’s cocoa but receives less than 10 percent of the global chocolate industry’s total value.
The time has come for Africa to process its own wealth, protect its farmers and negotiate with one voice in the global cocoa market, Abbey stated.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the Cocoa Value Addition Accord and the proposed Abuja Declaration, both aimed at expanding domestic cocoa processing, attracting new investments, improving farmers’ incomes and strengthening cooperation among Africa’s major cocoa-producing nations.
The Tinubu administration believes that shifting from raw commodity exports to value-added manufacturing will play a critical role in diversifying Nigeria’s economy, increasing non-oil export earnings, creating thousands of jobs and advancing the country’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
