(Ecofin Agency) - The collaboration between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire amid global cocoa price decline will face a first test next October, Edward George, head of group research at Ecobank, told Bloomberg.

According to the manager, although both countries want to coordinate farm gate price announcements for the 2019-20 season, they should get farmers approval.

“If they get it right, it proves that cooperation can work and, beyond bringing stability and clarity, it would immediately mean that other things that they talked about look more likely to happen,” Mr. George said.

However, Jonathan Parkman, co-head of agriculture at Marex Spectron Group, who welcomed the move indicated it might not impact world prices.

“The cocoa market is much more focused on the overwhelming speculative flows driving prices at the moment,” he said, adding that “the practical application of what Ghana and Ivory Coast are talking about will not have a major impact on the market unless we get to some extreme price level”.

Espoir Olodo