Adegoke Declares: Africa Must Own Cocoa’s Future

Africa is done selling raw beans. That was the unmistakable message from Comrade Adeola Adegoke, Global President of the Cocoa Farmers Alliance Association of Africa (COFAAA), at the African Cocoa Summit and Awards 2025, held at the University of Ghana’s ISSER Conference Centre in Accra.
With fiery conviction, Adegoke declared that the continent which produces 70 percent of the world’s cocoa must no longer remain at the bottom of the value chain.
“Cocoa is not just a commodity — it is our identity, our history, and our hope,” he said. “If Africa grows the beans, then Africa must own the value, the story, and the wealth.”
His keynote speech — met with repeated standing ovations — redefined the summit as more than a policy gathering. It became a movement for economic sovereignty and a call to rewrite the global cocoa
Organised by COFAAA in partnership with the Cocoa Roundtable Initiative (CORI), the summit brought together leaders from governments, research institutions, the private sector, and farmer cooperatives across Africa, Europe, and the United Kingdom.
Its theme, “Building a Sustainable African Cocoa Ecosystem: Unlocking Economic Potentials, Driving Inclusive Growth,” framed a new vision for Africa’s most strategic crop.
Adegoke decried the irony that the same farmers who fuel a $130 billion global chocolate market often live on less than two dollars a day — a situation he called “a moral tragedy.”
“The era of exporting 100 percent raw beans and importing finished chocolate must end,” he warned. “Africa’s cocoa story must be written by Africans — for Africans.”
He cautioned that without swift reforms, the continent could lose its dominance to competitors like Ecuador and Brazil, who are aggressively building domestic processing capacity.
Delegates from across the continent adopted a three-pillar agenda to drive Africa’s cocoa renaissance:
African-Led Cocoa Policy and Governance:
Governments must harmonize trade rules and pricing systems to reflect Africa’s realities. A unified policy front is essential for fair global engagement.
Domestic Processing and Value Addition:
States were urged to incentivize local chocolate and cocoa product industries through tax breaks, public-private partnerships, and technology transfer, to retain wealth and jobs within Africa.
Farmer Empowerment and Social Inclusion:
The blueprint calls for gender equality, youth engagement, and cooperative reform, ensuring that cocoa farming remains viable for generations to come.
“We cannot speak of sustainability when women are marginalized and youth are disengaged,” Adegoke said. “Africa’s next generation must inherit thriving industries — not dying farms.”
Reinforcing this, Nana Yaw Reuben Jr., COFAAA-Ghana Country Director, said:
“You cannot hold cocoa talks in Europe and expect Africa to benefit fully. Cocoa must be known as an African commodity — not a European one.”
Nigeria’s delegation — led by Dr. Marcus Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; Alhaji Bukar Musa, Director of the Federal Department of Agriculture and Chairman of the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC); and Ajayi Olutobaba, NCMC Secretariat Head — joined counterparts from Ghana, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire in pledging commitment to a continental cocoa revival.
Also in attendance were global development partners including GIZ, Lutheran World Relief/Corus International, and major private-sector stakeholders.
The summit climaxed with the African Cocoa Awards, honouring institutions driving innovation and fairness in the sector.
Ghana’s COCOBOD, Nigeria’s NCMC, Cameroon’s ONCC–NCBB, and Côte d’Ivoire’s Conseil du Café-Cacao were named Africa Cocoa Institution Development Champions.
Sunbeth Global Concepts Ltd received the Africa Cocoa Fair Trading and Sustainability Champion Award for ethical sourcing and fair trade.
“These are not just awardees,” Adegoke remarked. “They are proof that Africa’s transformation is already unfolding.”
In his closing address, Adegoke unveiled COFAAA’s PPC Framework — a continental strategy linking Producing, Processing, and Consuming Countries to drive self-reliance and shared prosperity.
“This summit is not ceremonial,” he declared. “It is a declaration — to move our cocoa story from survival to prosperity, from vulnerability to strength, from isolation to collaboration.”
As the hall rose once more in applause, his final words captured the summit’s spirit:
“The true value of cocoa is not in the beans we export, but in the futures we build. The future of cocoa belongs to Africa — and Africa must lead the way.”
COFAAA is a continental coalition of cocoa farmers committed to fair value distribution, sustainability, and inclusive prosperity across Africa’s cocoa industry.