Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa Sector Faces Serious Crisis Amid Multinational Pressure

The cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire is currently facing a severe situation that once again exposes the deep imbalance of power between the Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC), local producers, and Western multinational corporations controlling cocoa exports. Taking advantage of the decline in global cocoa prices, these multinationals have deliberately slowed down their purchases to force a reduction in the guaranteed price paid to Ivorian producers.

This strategy is neither coincidental nor purely economic: it is both political and speculative.

The current surplus of cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire is primarily the result of the stabilization mechanism implemented by the state, which provides for the advance sale of 85% of the production and the marketing of 15% during the campaign. Other known factors include the near-total halt of smuggling to neighboring countries, the influx of beans from Liberia, Guinea, and Ghana, and internal speculation.

By setting the guaranteed price at 2,800 FCFA per kilogram at the start of the campaign, the Ivorian government made a courageous decision in favor of producers. This measure not only prevented Ivorian cocoa from being diverted to neighboring countries but also attracted volumes from these countries to Ivorian ports. It also caused a massive carryover of stocks from the previous campaign to the current one, as traders anticipating a price increase stored large quantities from the previous harvest to sell at the new campaign price, artificially inflating the available volumes.

Meanwhile, the CCC had already sold 85% of the national production in advance, based on estimates made long before this exceptional accumulation. Côte d’Ivoire now finds itself with more cocoa than expected, which must be purchased from producers before being resold to the multinationals grouped within GEPEX, intermediaries who have become nearly mandatory for international chocolatiers, as these buyers do not purchase directly from the CCC or national exporters.

This is when the multinationals step in. Refusing to participate in the stabilization system from which they previously benefited during bullish markets, they demand the systematic reduction of the origin differential and the removal of the Decent Income Differential (DRD), a mechanism designed to fight structural poverty among Ivorian and Ghanaian producers.

What these multinationals deliberately ignore is that the Ivorian state has provided clear financial support for the purchase of surplus cocoa, covering the difference between the CCC’s stabilized CAF price and the current London market price. In other words, multinationals can buy Ivorian cocoa at the CCC’s guaranteed price without suffering any financial loss.

Despite this, they refuse any compromise.

Their true objective is clear: to shift the burden of international market volatility onto Ivorian producers, undermine social protection mechanisms, and weaken the Ivorian stabilization system. If their demands were met, the guaranteed price would drop from 2,800 FCFA to around 1,800 FCFA per kilogram, not only for the surplus but for all unsold volumes, resulting in a direct loss of 1,000 FCFA per kilogram for producers, which the state would then have to compensate using stabilization funds.

Facing the CCC’s refusal to yield to this pressure, multinationals have triggered a blockade strategy, deliberately slowing down purchases in the field, including volumes already pre-sold at fixed prices. This cynical maneuver leaves producers with unsold beans, forcing them to sell below the guaranteed price to survive.

This is nothing less than organized economic blackmail.

In response, the CCC is considering sovereignty-based solutions: mobilizing the public company Transcao Négoce, strategic storage of the surplus, and relying on national exporters. The goal is clear: protect producers and prevent a collapse of farm-gate prices.

However, this crisis goes beyond a temporary issue. It exposes a disturbing reality: a cartel of five multinationals controls most of Ivorian cocoa commercialization and exports, without generating significant added value for the national economy. Instead of investing in cocoa processing, these companies focus mainly on exporting raw beans, dictating terms to a country that produces over 40% of the world’s cocoa.

This situation is no longer sustainable.

Côte d’Ivoire must pursue a strategic rupture: secure direct access to international chocolatiers to break the artificially locked market, strictly limit multinationals to local processing, strengthen national actors, and regain control over its value chain.

Cocoa is a national wealth. It can no longer be held hostage by foreign private interests.

The time for technical adjustments and asymmetric compromises is over. The time for political decision-making, economic sovereignty, and the unwavering defense of Ivorian producers has arrived.