What if Côte d'Ivoire consumed its own chocolate?

In response to the question about Côte d'Ivoire's next big agro-export opportunity:

The agricultural strategy pursued by Côte d'Ivoire since independence deserves to be shared with African nations seeking to launch their own agrarian revolution. However, it must be complemented by a public policy for training in agricultural processing, rooted in creativity, in order to produce unique and innovative finished goods.

This strategy, built around cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, and rubber, has enabled the country to become a world leader in several value chains. Côte d'Ivoire produces around 40% of the world's cocoa, and together with Ghana, the two countries account for nearly 49% of global production. But it has long relied on exporting barely processed raw materials, leaving others to capture the added value. Today, the challenge is no longer just to produce more, but to produce better and further up the value chain.

The goal is no longer merely to produce everyday consumer goods, but to spark new demand for innovative products born from the creativity of young Ivorian engineers and entrepreneurs trained in agricultural processing.

This represents a paradigm shift: moving from a supply-driven economy to a demand-driven one, where product innovation creates new needs and new markets. It requires developing advanced technical skills, but also an entrepreneurial mindset capable of imagining products no one has yet conceived.

Take cocoa. Côte d'Ivoire must go beyond cocoa powder, often presented as the symbol of local industrialization. Our factories should manufacture entirely new products. Nutella is neither chocolate nor butter: this is the kind of inventiveness our agricultural processing schools must awaken in our young people.

The Nutella case is emblematic: from a simple raw material – hazelnut and cocoa – a brand managed to create a globally consumed product, sitting at the crossroads of several categories. It is this ability to hybridize, divert, and reinvent that our young people must acquire.

Ingenuity is too often associated solely with the IT sector, when in fact it concerns every area of the economy. After all, someone had to invent attiéké, now widely consumed in Côte d'Ivoire and exported around the world.

Attiéké is a perfect example of endogenous innovation: born from local know-how, it established itself as a mass consumer product before conquering foreign markets.

Its success rests first and foremost on strong local consumption, and this is a model that agricultural policies should draw inspiration from: create products loved locally, standardize them to meet international standards, and thereby naturally open an export market for finished goods "Made in Côte d'Ivoire."

This model is virtuous on several counts: it stimulates local production, creates jobs in processing, strengthens food sovereignty, and generates foreign currency through exports.

Would we speak of a "deterioration of the terms of trade" if Ivorians consumed as much chocolate as Europeans? Can we create, from our cocoa, other products that the population would enjoy and be able to afford?

The figures are striking. Côte d'Ivoire produces around 2 million tonnes of cocoa per year, yet national chocolate consumption remains below 200 grams per person per year, compared with a global average of 900 grams and around 8 kilograms in Belgium — 40 times more. In other words, a country that produces a quarter of the world's chocolate barely consumes any of it.

In terms of processing, Côte d'Ivoire still processes only about 42% of its production, or nearly 750,000 tonnes, with the rest exported as raw beans. The government aims for 50% processing in the short term and 100% by 2030. Installed capacity stands at around 1.06 million tonnes, but utilization rates hover at only about 70%. Two new plants were inaugurated in 2025, including Transcao's, with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes.

Price volatility further illustrates the fragility of the current model. Cocoa prices in New York swung from a historic peak of nearly $13,000 per tonne in late 2024 to a range of $3,000 to $4,000 in 2025. The farmgate price set by the government for the 2025/2026 season is CFA 2,800 per kilogram, up from CFA 1,800 the previous season — a 56% increase.

A strong local market for a country's own processed agricultural products is the key to industrialization, technological innovation, and ultimately economic independence. Consuming what you produce means reducing your dependence on external demand. This domestic market constitutes a foundation on which local businesses can grow, innovate, diversify, and withstand external shocks.

An agricultural revolution that combines production, processing, and above all local consumption is, in reality, an industrial revolution.

Marius C. Oula