While in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the harvest is poor and the increase in the price to the planter is limited, producers in Cameroon, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo are rubbing their hands. Not only are they taking full advantage of the rise in prices, but they have become highly sought-after alternatives for buyers lacking beans, as evidenced by the operators present in Brussels for the world cocoa conference.
From our special correspondent returning from Brussels,
Capped at 1,000, then 1,500 CFA francs in Ivory Coast, or their equivalent in Ghana, the kilo of cocoa sold for more than 5,100 CFA francs – or more than 8 dollars in Cameroon –, the third African producer . Cameroonian planters are currently taking full advantage of their liberalized system, after difficult years.
“ In Cameroon, marketing is free, it is direct, there are few intermediaries », Underlines Omer Maledy, executive secretary of the coffee and cocoa professionals of Cameroon. “ The Cameroonian producer, informed of cocoa prices daily, does his shopping and does his best to earn more. We hope it lasts, that they win well and that they win for a long time, because it’s barely over a year ago, we were still at the lowest prices, so if they can be raised, let them be as long as possible! »
Fourth African producer, Nigeria has been in high demand in recent months. An intermediary present in Brussels for the World Cocoa Conference plans to sell 30% more beans this year to traders Olam and Sunbeth.
Read alsoThe price of sustainable cocoa is debated at the World Conference in Brussels
No stock, not in depots
A huge country, but still small in cocoa, the Democratic Republic of Congo is nonetheless seeing lots of new buyers in need of beans. “ More and more, there are buyers who were not present in the DRC but who are starting to come », Notes Séraphine Ntoumba, who supports cocoa producers in the Mai Ndombé region and Kongo central (formerly Lower Congo), in the west of the DRC, for the NGO Trias. “ So, we have the opportunity to present the good quality of the DRC and to benefit from increasing prices. »
The kilo of beans, which brought in a maximum of $2.50 for producers in these Congolese cooperatives last year, more than doubled, and their entire 200 tonnes were sold. “ The cooperatives we support now have the ability to sell their product on time.welcomes Séraphine Ntoumba, and so it doesn’t hang around in warehouses, it’s purchased before it’s even produced. » With the last batch leaving this month, buyers of cocoa from these Congolese cooperatives will now have to wait for the beans from the main harvest, starting next August and September.
