In a significant West African agribusiness development, Presidents Alassane Ouattara and John Dramani Mahama signed a Joint Declaration in Abidjan in June 2026 committing Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana — together roughly 60% of global cocoa supply — to harmonise farm-gate cocoa pricing from the 2026/2027 season. Under the deal, both countries will align producer prices in dollar terms and unify their crop-year calendar, running uniformly from September 1 to August 31 starting this year. The agreement builds on the existing Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) and its Living Income Differential mechanism, and adds new commitments on combating Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease, expanding domestic processing, and boosting regional cocoa consumption. Nigeria and Cameroon have separately expressed interest in joining CIGCI.
For agribusiness advisors, this points toward reduced cross-border price arbitrage and smuggling, and a push by producing nations to capture more value from a chocolate industry where Africa grows the beans but retains only a small share of downstream profit.
Source: Graphic Online, Citinewsroom, CIGCI (cighci.org), June 2026