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Nigeria’s cocoa industry is emerging as a key driver of economic diversification. With growing global demand and surging investments, the sector could unlock new revenue streams and strengthen the country’s non-oil economy.
SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Nigeria’s cocoa industry is undergoing a transformation, characterized by record-high prices, soaring exports, and an increasing investor appeal.
As the West African country accelerates efforts to diversify its economy beyond oil, cocoa is emerging as a key player — offering not just revenue but a chance to reclaim Nigeria’s place in the global cocoa market.
Cocoa prices in Nigeria surged by over 700% by December 2024 compared to January 2023, reaching an all-time high of ₦15 million (about US$10000) per tonne, driven by global supply shortages, rising demand from Europe and Asia, and currency fluctuations, according to the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN).
According to Oluwatobi Falegan, a Nigerian financial professional, ongoing shifts in the cocoa industry hold broader implications beyond direct impact on the cocoa sector — they could lead to a surge in demand for other agricultural commodities from a country that, until the discovery of oil in the 1950’s, was an agricultural powerhouse in the region. Opportunities in agriculture have been cited as a key pillar in the country’s attempts to diversify the economy.
“Agriculture, as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s diversification efforts, stands to gain from global demand. Cocoa’s success sets an example for other commodities, such as cashews, sesame seeds, and ginger,” he explained.
Last week, British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and an impact investor unveiled a collaboration with the Johnvents Group injecting US$40.5 million into the sector.
According to a press statement from BII, “the investment is to optimise production efficiencies as well as strengthen its sustainability and traceability programme.”
“Not only will this benefit local farmers, but it will also improve Nigeria’s trade balance and global competitiveness through increased exports,” explained Benson Adenuga, coverage director and the head of the Nigeria Office at BII, in the statement released on February 18.
Cocoa is already among the biggest non-oil exports in Nigeria and is largely grown by more than 300,000 small-scale farmers in the south of the country, according to the Cocoa Farmers Association.
Data from the World Atlas ranks Nigeria as the world’s seventh-largest cocoa producer, yielding approximately 270,000 metric tons annually. It trails Côte d’Ivoire, the global leader with over 2.3 million tons, followed by Ghana (653,000 tons), Indonesia (641,000 tons), Ecuador (375,000 tons), Brazil (296,000 tons), and Cameroon (295,000 tons).
Unlike global competitors that invest in processing, most African nations export raw cocoa, missing out on the industry’s real value. The global cocoa market was worth US$45 billion in 2019 and is set to reach US$61 billion by 2027, yet Africa captures only a fraction, according to the International Cocoa Council.
In Côte d’Ivoire, 72% of cocoa exports are unprocessed whole beans, while Ghana follows closely at 68%, according to Customs data. Most processing remains limited to lower-value products, with chocolate and other complementary goods primarily sold in local and regional markets.
It is similar in Nigeria, with World Atlas data showing Nigeria exports around 90% of its cocoa as raw beans, with the country losing out on returns from the lucrative US$130 billion global chocolate market.
The tide is, however, slowly changing, not just in the volumes of production and pricing dynamics but also in terms of the investment flow into the country.
Shortages in the global markets, especially disruptions in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, also accelerated cocoa exports from Nigeria.
The latest (2025) data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals that cocoa accounted for 7.12% of total agricultural exports, making it the best-performing crop of the year. Key export destinations included the Netherlands, Malaysia, Belgium, and Germany.
Notably, the NBS statistics for Q4 of 2024 show the oil sector, a conventionally dominant sector, contributed less than 5% to the national GDP, with non-oil economic activities surging in the quarter under review. Agriculture, for instance, contributed 25.59%.
In a 2025 interview on The Guardian, a Nigerian news outlet, Dominic Joshua, the founder of Cultivate Africa, an event organized by the Africa Union Commission with partners, noted that if the trend continues, “cocoa can generate more revenue than oil in the next decade… But the time to act is now.”
According to Falegan, “lessons from cocoa’s compliance with EU standards can be applied to other commodities, encouraging the adoption of sustainable farming practices and better post-harvest handling to meet global requirements.”
“The success of cocoa in accessing premium markets could motivate the government to expand support for agriculture, such as subsidizing inputs, improving logistics, and providing more export incentives for multiple crops.”
**** SOURCE: Bonface Orucho, bird story agency
