Abuja Declaration On Cocoa Value Addition Summit

Theme: "From Bean To Brand"
“For a hundred years Africa exported the bean and imported the shame. The Abuja Declaration says the century of exporting raw beans is over. Now Africa must prove it can turn the bean into a brand, the brand into factories, and the factories into jobs and dignity".

Introduction
West African Cocoa producing states signed a landmark agreement. These countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon. The purpose of the agreement is to establish the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance (CVAA). The Abuja Declaration Summit on cocoa value addition marks one of the most ambitious attempts by Africa's leading cocoa producers in a unified African stance,to capture a greater share of the industry's value chain, which has been largely in the hands of external players.The proposed Cocoa Value Addition Alliance (CVAA) is expected to encourage greater local processing, expansion of manufacturing capacity, improving of farmers’ incomes and increasing of Africa’s share of the global cocoa value chain.

The Summit
The Cocoa Value Addition Summit (CVAS) was held on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 at the BAT International Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria. Under the theme "From Bean to Brand". It was hosted by the Federal Government of Nigeria by the Nigerian Senator John Owan Enoh, Honourable Minister of State for Industry. The CVAS signed the Abuja Declaration, establishing a Cocoa Value Addition Alliance,(CVAA) a first of its kind for the West African countries.The CVAA targets shifting West Africa from exporting raw beans to local processing.

Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon established a Cocoa Value Addition Alliance"(CVAA) to coordinate policies, harmonize trade standards, boost processing capacity, retain more value on the continent and increase collective bargaining power in the global market. These four nations, representing 66% or two thirds of global cocoa production.

Speaking ahead of the summit, the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said African cocoa-producing countries were determined to change a century-old trade model that has left producing nations with little economic value despite supplying most of the world’s cocoa.

“For a hundred years, Africa has sent its cocoa to the world in sacks and received it back in wrappers, paying at both ends of the transaction", Said Owan Enoh.“The distance between a bean and a brand is measured in jobs and in dignity" commented Owan Enoh and on Tuesday, 14 July, 2026 in Abuja, four nations begin closing that distance together.

Current Scenario
In a classic case of resource extraction, currently, Africa grows most of global cocoa but only captures 6% of the US $165 billion dollar chocolate value chain.Such resource extraction should not be allowed to continue if Africa is to grow into a global power. Thus, the Abuja declaration move is all about reclaiming control over land and its product (cocoa).Therefore, cocoa should not be processed somewhere in Europe, but on African soil, where the cocoa originates from so that Africa benefits also and profit also,

"promoting value addition at origin”, And moving, “beyond exporting raw beans, a business model that leaves most manufacturing profits, branding opportunities and high-value jobs outside the African continent”.

Thus, the Abuja declaration summit is about changing not only the rules of the game, but the game itself. And Africa's place should not only be producers of raw materials, but processors of their raw materials. This is exactly the sweet resource sovereignty language Africa should be speaking.Sadly, at the moment beans leave Abidjan (Cote D'Ivoire), Tema (Ghana), Lagos (Nigeria) and Doula (Cameroon) raw, the processing, branding and profit happen in Europe and the finished chocolate comes back to Africa beyond the farmers who grew it.

Resource alliances or blocs like the CVAA formed by the Abuja declaration on cocoa value addition offers immense benefits to the continent.This resources alliance will not only boost the collective bargaining power of the Cocoa producers but also,negotiate, develop common standards and engage international markets as a unified bloc. Having unified resource blocs means no more being picked off one by one by Transnational Corporations (TNCs) who have played one nation against the other, and played producer against producer for a century.CVAA promotes intra- continental trade as envisioned by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Powerful & Historic Vision
This is the kind of leadership Africa needs. It is not just talking about change, but it is bringing change. It is not just about lamenting, but designing and redesigning systems,

"We do not gather to lament the market. We gather to redesign our place in it" , Owan Enoh said.

From "bean to brand" is a powerful, historic vision. It is now high time for the rest of Africa to form their own "resource alliances or blocs" and implement their own versions of "from bean to brand" visions.This is the biggest thing that has occurred not only in the cocoa industry in Africa but other raw material sectors of the continent because Africa keeps exporting raw materials to other parts of the world who then process, package and export back to Africa at more than 1000% across the value chain, this is untenable.

The Warning
First and foremost, African Cocoa giants should set their trade standards and expectations first among themselves then later negotiate on the basis of those standards with other external powers like the European Union (EU). Do not let Brussels set the rules for African Cocoa farms. Secondly, control should remain in the hands of Africa. Do not make the mistake of giving exclusive powers of this block to external players to “digitize” or “finance” the alliance and consequently control it.Thirdly, technological transfer should be non- negotiable. Processing plants should be in Africa and must come with African engineers, African research & development, not just assembly lines. Last but not least, the resource bloc in whatever it does should be "farmers first". Those who grow should for a change benefit from what they grow, from the sweat of their labour, "farmers first". Set measurable targets on domestic processing and farmer income. Wealth must reach down the farmers not just elites or middlemen.

Conclusion
Oil Producing & Exporting Countries (OPEC) taught the world that raw material producers who unite stop being price takers. Africa is finally applying the lesson.Hopefully, all African countries producing similar raw material, will come together in order to stop being price takers.The distance between the raw bean and finished brand (chocolate) is jobs and infrastructure. Abuja declaration has set to close the distance. Indeed, the Abuja declaration is a decolonizing summit.For centuries, the colonial mentality was: "Africa grows, Europe manufactures, Africa consumes". But now the narrative is poised for a change to: "Africa grows, Africa processes, Africa brands, Africa exports". Remember Cocoa is not a “poor farmer crop”. It is integral in chocolate, cosmetics, pharmaceutical productions etc and Africa at this juncture deserves to tap in in those global markets and productions. Should the summit submissions be followed to their logical end, then this is what resource sovereignty looks like.Furthermore, The proposed CVAA will not only encourage processing of cocoa within African borders rather than just exporting raw beans, it will also create jobs in Africa, boost industrialization, increase export earnings and give greater power to African producers over global cocoa prices.

Fortune Madondo