Lack of policy, research and development have been identified as some of the factors militating against Nigeria's inability to harness the $200bn global cocoa market.
Director-General, Nigeria Export and Import Bank, NEXIM, Abba Bello stated that Nigeria has not tapped into the wealth cocoa can produce, saying the industry is worth $200bn annually.
He stated this during a press conference held in Lagos to herald the International Cocoa and Chocolate (ICCF) 2024 NIGERIA with the theme: "Adding Value to Cocoa in Producing Regions."
The MD represented by NEXIM'S General Manager, Head of Strategies, Tayo Omidiji said, "It is instructive to note that the cocoa industry (including beans, cake, chocolate, etc) is worth $200bn annually, out of which the entire West African producing region (made up of Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameron and Nigeria), which account for about 70 -75% of the global output earns only $10bn.
"To further drive home the point, I would like to make reference to the report by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in 2021. According to the report, Nigeria produced 208 MT of cocoa beans in 2021, but generated a total income of $628m. However, Germany, which did not produce cocoa earned a whopping $57.3bn from export of cocoa products," he said.
The founder, International Cocoa Diplomacy, Oloni of Eti-Oni, Osun State, Oba Dokun Thompson Gureje IV said, "The most important aspect of value addition is not even physical and very soft - policy, research, innovation and the rest comes after that."
He expressed worry over the non-inclusion of Nigeria as one of the countries of International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO).
"We are working on research with the Applied Sciences University in Zurich and Tside University in the UK. It is about getting the right quantitative analysis of the cocoa flavour on our cocoa based on agricultural practices.
"In the past, it used to be based on residual value. What that means when you take cocoa, they will tell you, 'you used pesticides on it, so it is useless'. So, if that is the case, what about what is inside of it, nobody has ever done that and nobody has done that on Nigeria cocoa," he added.
