Côte d’Ivoire’s Cocoa regulator, Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao (CCC) was forced to reallocate half of the 320,000 tons of Cocoa earmarked for export by local companies after they appeared to be unable to handle the volume.
The will of the government is that nationals are more and more integrated into the sales system, but we need to have serious exporters who can carry out the work
Yves Kone – General Manager CCC
The CCC might have to perform more financial due diligence if they want to allocate export contracts to smaller firms in future.
In the end, only 161,000 tons were given to local exporters, but that still represents about 10% of the country’s main harvest production, which is not insignificant.
The regulator wants to intervene in the market because it rightly identified that it is not competitive enough. Five International companies currently control the majority of exports, and that gives them disproportionate power in negotiations over price.
Kone said that the local companies must “learn the trade alongside multinationals”.
The regulator originally hoped the local companies would pick up 20% of the allocation, creating a wider base of potential buyers which they hope will result in a healthier marketplace for their Cocoa.
