President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced that Nigeria will no longer export raw cocoa beans while continuing to import finished chocolate products, as the country intensifies efforts to add value to its cocoa industry through local processing.
Speaking at the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026 in Abuja, President Tinubu unveiled an ambitious plan to transform the sector by processing cocoa domestically, creating jobs, and increasing revenue from the commodity.
Nigeria currently produces over 300,000 tonnes of cocoa annually, making it one of the world’s top producers. However, the country has historically exported most of its cocoa in raw form, missing out on the higher profits from processed products like chocolate, cocoa butter, and powder.
The President highlighted that Nigeria has significantly boosted its cocoa grinding capacity to above 120,000 tonnes, with a major new processing facility currently under construction. This is part of a broader strategy to industrialise the sector and retain more economic value at home.
As part of the initiative, Nigeria has joined Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon in signing the Abuja Declaration, aimed at promoting joint processing, stronger pricing power, and regional cooperation in the cocoa value chain.
The move is expected to create thousands of jobs, particularly in the South West region where cocoa is predominantly grown, and stimulate industrial growth through new factories and allied industries.
While supporters of the policy have praised the potential for job creation and economic empowerment for farmers, some skeptics have called for reliable power supply and functional factories to ensure the success of local processing efforts, citing past policy inconsistencies in the sector.
President Tinubu’s announcement signals a renewed commitment to value addition in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, aligning with broader goals of economic diversification and reducing dependence on raw commodity exports.
This policy is expected to reshape Nigeria’s cocoa industry and serve as a model for other agricultural commodities where the country has comparative advantage.
