Ivory Coast’s President, Alassane Ouattara, has announced an increase in the official cocoa farmgate price to 1,500 CFA francs per kilogram, equivalent to $2.47, effective from Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
Sources familiar with the matter, reported by Accra-based media outlet Asaase Radio, indicate that the decision was reached during a significant government meeting held on Saturday, March 30, 2024.
Initial reports suggested that President Ouattara had initially agreed to a proposal for a price increment ranging between 1,100 and 1,200 CFA per kilogram. However, he later reversed this decision, opting for an even higher price.
Efforts to obtain comments from the government and the cocoa regulator, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), were unsuccessful on Sunday.
Despite cocoa prices soaring more than threefold over the past year due to disease outbreaks and adverse weather conditions, resulting in the global market experiencing a third consecutive deficit, the official farmgate price in Ivory Coast, a leading cocoa producer, has yet to reflect this surge.
“There were several proposals on the table and as a last resort, the president wanted the highest possible price for the producers so he decided 1,500 CFA per kg instead of 1,200 CFA, which had been validated previously,” the director of a European export company told Reuters.
“Ultimately in the current context, this is the best possible price that the CCC can pay because the sales system in Ivory Coast is such that it is difficult to change prices during the season,” the person told Asaase Radio.
The director of another international export company told Asaase Radio that: “The president judged the world market situation to be exceptional and wanted an exceptional reaction too.”