One of Nigeria’s most important exports is cocoa beans.
Prior to the oil boom, it provided the main source of income to the western region of Nigeria, and it is still a major export product today.
Data by the National Bureau Of Statistics (NBS) shows that of the N79.4 billion recorded from agricultural goods exports in the third quarter, cocoa beans export alone took a chunk percentage with about N38 billion.
According to the newly released Foreign trade in Good statistics report, during the quarter, “agricultural goods exports were driven by good fermented Nigerian cocoa beans worth N27.2billion, of which N9.7billion, N6.18billion and N5.7 billion were exported to Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Netherlands respectively”.
It was further disclosed that superior quality raw cocoa beans worth N11.13 billion were also exported to Malaysia.
According to the National Export Promotion Council, Nigeria was the fourth largest exporter of cocoa beans globally, behind Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia in 2020.
The top cocoa-producing states in Nigeria are Ondo state, Cross River, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ekiti, Delta, Osun, Oyo. Cocoa is exported majorly in its unprocessed form. However, it finds its way back into the country in a refined state and in products like cocoa butter, cocoa cake, chocolate, pomades, beverages, and many more.
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Getting started with cocoa exports in Nigeria
Planning
Every business requires planning; planning for fund, location, creating a vision, human resource, pricing, marketing, e.t.c. If all of these are not settled, it can result in failure. Therefore, it is important to start a cocoa production business by writing a business plan. A business plan is a document that contains your business goals, aims, and objectives and how they can be attained. Also, it gives full information about the business and provides direction to achieve the vision.
Register
Once the business plan is ready, the next thing is to proceed to register the business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). You can register as a sole proprietor or a limited liability company. To do this, you can register online via the CAC company online registration portal or reach out to companies like ReDahlia. ReDahlia makes business registration seamless and gives businesses global visibility. Thereafter, ensure to pay tax to the appropriate authority and join cocoa producers association for proper regulation. International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) caters to any cocoa export business in Nigeria but in an international capacity.
Leading countries for cocoa exportation
Before you commence your cocoa exporting business, you will want to know the leading countries that buy cocoa from Nigeria. This is one of the reasons most people go into the cocoa export business in Nigeria. They see the availability of these cocoa-buying countries as a business opportunity. It means that there is an international market demand for a local product that is widely around the country.
So, if you were one of the numerous cocoa exporters in the country, you will notice that about half of the total amount of cocoa exported out of the country goes to the Netherlands.
The Netherlands accounts for about 45% of the total cocoa products being export out of the country. After the Netherlands with 45%, the next two countries are Germany (22%) and Malaysia (6.2%) respectively. Furthermore, other countries also buy cocoa from Nigeria. Some of these countries include but are not limited to China, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, and Spain.
Culled from Entrepreneurs/Africalaunchpad
