Nigeria and Cameroon set to join Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana cocoa alliance

Nigeria and Cameroon have expressed interest in joining the alliance for economic relations on cocoa between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana; the two-leading cocoa-producing countries in the world.

The two West African countries believe joining the initiative will enhance the effort of the alliance to deliver a better price and remuneration for cocoa farmers. The initiative was set up following a declaration by the Presidents of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to harmonise the cocoa trading strategies of the two countries to improve the incomes of cocoa farmers in the two countries in the wake of persistently low cocoa prices on the world market.

The initiative has so far instituted the Living Income Differential (LID), the component of the cocoa trading mechanism operated by the two producer countries, which ensures that every tonne of cocoa beans sold attracts an extra $400.00 which is paid to farmers.

The two countries joining Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire will create an alliance of countries, whose total cocoa production constitutes 75 per cent of the world’s supply.