Africa’s cocoa story includes Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. Buyer conversations become stronger when the origin and the quality of each lot are clear.
3.253 million tonnesAfrican cocoa production · ICCO projection for 2024/25
The production and trade picture
ICCO’s 2024/25 annual report projects African cocoa output at 3.253 million tonnes, or 69.2% of the world total. The report identifies Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon among its producing countries.
This is a dated regional projection, not a live stock figure. Country output and supplier availability should be checked separately.
A clearer buyer conversation
Useful information to discuss and organise:
Origin and producer group or exporter identity
Fermentation, drying, storage and lot quality
Batch traceability and evidence supporting sustainability claims
Crossgates brings supplier information and supporting documents together in a Verified Trade Passport so the business behind the product is easier to assess.
Prepare your product for a buyer conversation
Start with one clearly described product, one origin and one intended market. Use these prompts to build a practical brief with the Crossgates team.
Describe what you supply
Distinguish beans from liquor, butter, powder or another processed form. Record origin, producer or processor, harvest period and batch identity.
Explain quality and handling
For beans, document fermentation, drying and storage information and available test results. For processed products, describe the ingredients, processing and specification relevant to the buyer’s intended use.
Connect claims to records
Keep sourcing and batch records together. If you claim organic or another certification, supply the actual certificate and explain the products, operator and dates it covers.
What Crossgates can help you organise
A structured business profile, product brief, supporting-record list and clearly identified gaps. Agree the review scope, deliverables and sharing permissions before work begins. A Verified Trade Passport records the applicable review; it does not replace official approvals or the buyer’s own assessment.
For your first enquiry, include the product form, business location, available quantity, intended destination and the documents you already hold. Do not upload private supporting records to a public page.
Five largest reported country values in this comparison. See the full country table for remaining reporters.See the African country values used in this calculation
Reported export values · current US dollars · 2023
Reporting country
Export value
Cote d'Ivoire
US$3,329,064,080
Ghana
US$1,117,448,760
Nigeria
US$669,988,560
Cameroon
US$596,954,690
Congo, Dem. Rep.
US$144,511,370
Uganda
US$140,708,690
Tanzania
US$38,977,720
Togo
US$28,299,740
Madagascar
US$26,425,170
Sao Tome and Principe
US$10,050,760
Liberia
US$4,143,930
Congo, Rep.
US$566,000
Djibouti
US$163,120
South Africa
US$17,440
Egypt, Arab Rep.
US$1,020
Kenya
US$950
Central African Republic
US$250
Mauritius
US$140
Morocco
US$30
Benin
US$30
Botswana
US$10
What these numbers mean
Africa’s share of reported cocoa-bean exports is large. This is a raw-product trade comparison, not a measure of Africa’s share of chocolate retail sales. Cocoa beans, cocoa butter, powder and finished chocolate belong to different product categories and stages of the value chain.
Where the commercial gap appears
The opportunity must therefore be described precisely: helping suppliers present reliable lots and supporting evidence, while recognising that processing, finance, market access and branding also affect value retention. These export figures alone cannot quantify how much additional value a producer could capture.
The gap Crossgates addresses
For a cocoa supplier, useful records connect the business to the origin, harvest period, fermentation and drying process, batch identity, storage conditions and available quality tests. Buyers need to understand the actual offer and the evidence that applies to it.
Turn the opportunity into a prepared offer
Crossgates organises this information and records the review scope, completed checks and open actions. A structured passport can make the evidence easier to inspect and share with approved buyers. It is one part of trade preparation; product consistency, infrastructure, financing and commercial agreements require their own work.
How to read this comparison
Common historical baseline: calendar year 2023, current US dollars, partner “World”, gross exports, and the stated HS 1988/92 product classification. These are reported export values, not retail market revenue, profit, farmer income or Crossgates transactions. More recent releases may be available; 2023 is used consistently across these product comparisons.
World total = sum of the reporting economies in the linked table, excluding the European Union aggregate to avoid counting it alongside EU member countries. Africa total = sum of the African reporting countries listed above. Share = Africa total ÷ world total × 100. Source values are in thousands of US dollars and are multiplied by 1,000. Display totals are rounded; percentages use unrounded values.
Missing country reports are not zero exports. Re-exports remain included; an export recorded from an African country does not necessarily mean the product was grown there. The comparison is a snapshot of reported trade, not a complete estimate of value retained in Africa. Accessed 27 October 2026.
Reviewed 20 October 2026. Figures refer to the stated periods; they do not represent current supplier stock. Production, exports and projections are labelled separately.
Historical comparison: 2023 reported gross exports, current US dollars. Africa’s share is calculated from the reporting countries, not from retail sales or farmer income. Source: World Bank WITS, using UN Comtrade. All eight totals were recalculated against the linked source tables on 29 October 2026.
The download contains unrounded totals, the number of reporting economies and the calculation method. The country tables above show the African values used. Missing reports are not treated as zero. The EU aggregate is excluded to avoid double counting.