The Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire welcomed this Monday, June 15, representatives of the two main cocoa powers in the world, gathered within the framework of the Ivory Coast-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (ICCIG). A strategic meeting chaired on the Ivorian side by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Production, Bruno Nabagné Koné, and on the Ghanaian side by the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson. The executive secretary of the initiative, Alex Arnaud Assanvo, as well as the regulatory structures of the two countries (the Ivorian Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC) and the Cocoa Board of Ghana) also took part in the discussions.

In his opening speech, Bruno Nabagné Koné recalled the historic scope of this bilateral cooperation, born from the Abidjan Declaration of March 2018. Together, the two nations provide between 60 and 65% of the world's supply of beans, but this dominant position contrasts with the meager income received by the planters. According to European Union estimates, Ivory Coast and Ghana only capture a marginal fraction of the added value generated by the cocoa sector in consuming countries. The question of producers' income occupied the heart of the debates. Launched in 2019, the Decent Income Differential (DRD) mechanism already aimed to correct this structural injustice. The 7th meeting of the steering committee should, according to the participants, lead to concrete recommendations to deepen this mechanism and strengthen the resilience of the sector in the face of global market turbulence.

On the Ghanaian side, Minister Forson insisted on the need for strengthened collaboration to build a cocoa sector that is “resilient, prosperous and profitable for farmers”. A shared ambition which demonstrates a common desire to no longer submit to the rules of the market, but to shape them.