As we know, Côte d’Ivoire produces a large portion of the world’s cocoa and lately, countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have made significant steps towards economic independence from foreign entities. Côte d’Ivoire will soon require 20% of cocoa purchases by multinational companies to be fulfilled by firms locally.
The president of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, is expected to enforce this 2012 law which requires more Ivorian processors to be involved in the supply chain, therefore boosting the economy of the country.
Although the law has been around since 2012, the six largest international cocoa purchasers have used their financial leverage to avoid following these terms. This invariably hurts local firms that have little power in the supply chain and keeping the producing countries at the bottom end of the value chain.
The international companies that routinely buy Ivorian cocoa are Cargill, Sucden, Olam, Barry Callebaut, Touton, and Ecom. With the enforcement of this nearly 10-year-old law, hopefully, the countries and producers growing cocoa will start to receive more of the total value of the raw materials they produce.