Maya Forstater

That's the long-standing structure, but not the standard. Like #India with the diamond value chain, African countries can be competitive with #cocoa value chain. An added advantage is that African countries produce more than majority of global cocoa output.

Yet most chocolate manufacturing centres have managed without the advantage of being centres of cocoa farming. So it is not clear that it is an added advantage! e.g. @cesifoti 's work on product space depending on capabilities

Certainly, there are benefits to adding value to #cocoa: bringing economic spin-offs to #Switzerland, the Netherlands, US. etc. It can be done in #Africa too. This is why governments are beginning to rethink the whole chain, not just producing and exporting raw beans.

This is a good article on this topic. With a focus on fixing binding constraints & the targeting of the growing market in #Africa, there is scope to capture a larger share of the pie. See Cemoi and Olam new chocolate factories in #cotedivoire https://qz.com/981562/ghana-ivory-coast-are-marketing-more-chocolate-to-the-world/ …

Re product space, while #cocoa doesn't score all that well I think this is partly due to West Africa's dependence on commodity exports & lack of value addition efforts. It can support cost reduction in other agri & light manuf sectors eg cosmetics, soaps, animal feed, beverages

Thanks interesting article. Yes agree. opportunities. Just, narrative "unacceptable that Africa produces 75% of world’s cocoa, receives only 2% of $100bn annual choc market" (which I've seen a lot) seems wrong way to think about opportunities & barriers to competitive sector

I see your point, tho if it leads African governments to manage the value chain in a way that actually fixes the binding constraints in the sector, inc for businesses investing in local processing, then I'd take it. It's only in this way that it'll find what its real potential is