• Côte d’Ivoire opens $56.4M cocoa plant in Divo, adding 36,000-ton capacity.
• Aims to process 100% of cocoa locally by 2030; 44% processed in 2024.
• Processed exports earned $2.67B in 2023 vs. $3.5B from raw beans.

Côte d’Ivoire has inaugurated a new cocoa processing plant in Divo, a project valued at 32 billion CFA francs ($56.4 million). The new complex, named Cacao SA, was officially opened on August 2 in the presence of Minister of Trade and Industry Souleymane Diarrassouba and other government members. It is expected to process 36,000 tons of cocoa annually.

According to local media reports, the complex has five production lines to manufacture cocoa paste, cocoa butter, and chocolate. This new investment is part of an ongoing trend in the country’s processing sector. In June, the state-owned company Transcao CI launched a cocoa grinding unit with a 50,000-ton-per-year capacity in the Akoupé-Zeudji industrial zone. That project cost 130 billion CFA francs ($229.2 million).

These new projects aim to strengthen the local industry's processing capacity. The government’s goal is to locally process 100% of its annual cocoa harvest by 2030. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ivorian processors handled 777,000 tons of cocoa beans in 2024. This represented about 44% of the country’s 1.76 million-ton annual harvest.

Increased processing also aims to boost value creation within the export-oriented sector. Data from the General Directorate of Customs show that Côte d’Ivoire exported 1.34 million tons of cocoa beans in 2023, generating 2,000 billion CFA francs ($3.5 billion). In contrast, 648,000 tons of processed cocoa exported that same year generated 1,500 billion CFA francs ($2.67 billion).

Stéphanas Assocle