By Edward Dankwah
Accra, May 7, GNA – Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has called for a fundamental structural transformation of Africa’s cocoa economy, urging governments and industry players to move beyond raw bean production and prioritise value addition, industrialisation and long-term investment.
He said Africa’s cocoa sector must be repositioned through deliberate policies and sustained capital alignment to address long-standing imbalances in the global value chain, where the continent produces about 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans but captures only a fraction of the industry’s total value.
Mr Kufuor was delivering the keynote address at the maiden Africa Cocoa Finance and Investment Forum (ACFIF 2026) held at the London Stock Exchange.
He underscored the strategic importance of cocoa to African economies, describing it as a critical resource that must be treated like gold, oil or electricity, rather than merely as a commodity.
The Former President highlighted deep structural imbalances in the global cocoa industry, noting that while the chocolate and confectionery market exceeds 150 billion dollars annually, Africa earns just over 12 billion dollars, with farmers receiving about 10 per cent of the value generated.
“The true economic value lies in processing, manufacturing, branding and innovation,” he said.
Mr Kufuor added that Africa’s limited participation in downstream activities continued to constrain job creation, industrial growth and economic diversification.
Drawing on his experience in office, he recounted reforms implemented during his presidency, including the Cocoa Diseases and Pests Control Programme (CODAPEC) and the Cocoa High Technology Programme, which significantly boosted production and improved farmer incomes.
He noted that the interventions helped double Ghana’s cocoa output within a short period and laid the foundation for increased local processing capacity.
He stressed, however, that Africa’s main challenge was not lack of capacity but gaps in coordination, scale, investment and strategic positioning within the global market.
Mr Kufuor warned that climate change posed an additional threat to cocoa production, citing rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and increasing pest and disease outbreaks as risks to sustainability and long-term productivity.
He outlined key pathways for transforming the sector, including improving farmer incomes to attract youth into the industry, expanding value addition through industrial-scale processing and manufacturing, and mobilising long-term patient capital to support climate-resilient farming and infrastructure development.
The Former President also called for stronger continental collaboration, pointing to cooperation between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire as a model for securing better pricing and greater market influence.
He emphasised the need to anchor cocoa sector strategies beyond political cycles, noting that cocoa trees and global brands outlast governments.
Mr Kufuor identified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key opportunity to restructure Africa’s cocoa economy through regional processing hubs, shared infrastructure and cross-border investments.
He cautioned that failure to act decisively could entrench Africa at the lowest end of the value chain, with adverse implications for farmer livelihoods, national revenues and long-term economic growth.
He urged stakeholders to accelerate efforts towards building a resilient and competitive cocoa economy by 2040, leveraging emerging technologies such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence to drive transformation.
Mr Kufuor commended the organisers of the forum for creating a platform focused on finance and execution, and expressed hope that it would evolve into a pipeline for bankable investment projects across the cocoa value chain.
He added that with the right alignment of leadership, capital and enterprise, cocoa could become a powerful engine for industrialisation, job creation and inclusive growth across Africa.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah