President Bola Tinubu has announced that Nigeria will stop exporting raw cocoa beans as part of efforts to expand local processing and increase the value gained from the country’s cocoa sector.
The President made the announcement on Tuesday at the 2026 Cocoa Value Addition Summit held in Abuja, where he revealed plans to move the industry from exporting unprocessed commodities to producing finished cocoa products within Nigeria.
Represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, Tinubu said Nigeria must end the practice of sending raw agricultural products abroad and buying back finished goods made from the same resources.
He said the government’s new direction would focus on building processing facilities, supporting investors, creating jobs and increasing foreign exchange earnings through cocoa production and manufacturing.
The summit, themed “From Bean to Brand: The Bean in My Hand, The Brand in Our Future,” brought together government officials, investors, development organisations, financial institutions and representatives from cocoa-producing countries to discuss ways of improving Africa’s position in the global cocoa market.
Nigeria is among the major cocoa producers in the world, with hundreds of thousands of farmers involved in cultivation across millions of hectares of farmland.
However, most of the profits from cocoa have traditionally gone to countries that process the beans into chocolate and other finished products.
Tinubu said Nigeria would focus on grinding cocoa locally, producing cocoa butter, manufacturing chocolate and developing Nigerian brands that can compete internationally.
He pointed to ongoing investments in cocoa processing, including a 70,000-tonne facility being developed in Sagamu, Ogun State, as part of the country’s move towards building a stronger cocoa industry.
The President also stated that Nigeria’s cocoa grinding capacity has continued to increase, with financial institutions ready to support businesses involved in processing and manufacturing.
He said cocoa exports had generated trillions of naira in earnings during periods of high global prices but noted that shipping raw beans out of the country would no longer provide enough economic benefits.
