Faced with the alarming accumulation of stocks in production areas, the Ivorian government is taking action. A large-scale plan to remove the surplus was announced by Kobénan Kouassi Adjoumani, Minister of Agriculture, to free up 123,000 tons of cocoa beans currently held in cooperatives.

A breath of fresh air for the planters

The operation, costing a total of 280 billion FCFA (approximately 427 million euros), aims primarily to resolve the payment crisis affecting producers. In practice:

1. The price remains unchanged: The beans will be bought back at the official price of 2,800 FCFA per kilo .
2. Financial intermediary: The State temporarily replaces national operators who are experiencing liquidity shortages.
3. Subsequent repayment: Exporters who have defaulted on their contracts will eventually have to repay this advance to the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC).

The reasons for a massive traffic jam

The minister was keen to justify this sudden slowdown in sales by a combination of external and internal factors:

1. Global price collapse: Cocoa prices have plummeted by nearly 30% on international markets, dampening buyer enthusiasm.
2. Logistics saturation: The ports of Abidjan and San Pedro are facing significant difficulties in transport and storage.

"The goal is to decongest the situation on the ground and, above all, to pay the planters," the minister stressed, specifying that the current rate of purchases already amounts to 10,000 tons per day.

This public intervention should produce its first concrete effects in the coming days , thus offering much-needed respite to a cocoa sector under high tension.