On August 17, 2015, workers dry cocoa beans in the village of Goin Debe in the Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast. The head of the initiative, Alex Assanvo, said that Cameroon and Nigeria had asked to join the Cote d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), which is a joint body that represents the interests of the two countries in the cocoa trade.
Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s first and second-largest cocoa producers, made a declaration in 2018 that they were willing to define a common sustainable cocoa strategy that would raise prices paid to farmers. This led to the creation of the initiative.
It was made with the intention of including additional African nations.
Assanvo told reporters after the meeting that representatives from Cameroon and Nigeria had been invited to a CIGCI meeting in Abidjan to begin the process of joining the initiative.
At the meeting, Yves Brahima Kone, chief executive of the Ivory Coast Cocoa and Coffee Council, stated, “We are going to represent approximately two-thirds of global cocoa production.” He also mentioned Nigeria and Cameroon.
“This will enable us to have more leeway in discussions with the industry regarding imposing a reasonable price on our cocoa farmers,” the statement reads.