Enabel’s Trade for Development Centre commissioned AKA ZEBRA to carry out a study to clarify and document the operational, financial and commercial procedures and implications for Ivorian cocoa cooperatives wanting to convert from a “local” to an “export” cooperative.
The report details these implications and steps and also defines the conditions for a successful cooperative to move into export.
Three documents complete this main report:
- a report detailing the financial analysis of moving to exports;
- a tool for carrying out this financial analysis;
- a timeline of the key moments in managing an export project: stages, formalities and procedural costs.
General conclusion
Exports are reserved for well-organised cooperatives that are managed in accordance with the rules of good governance and are profitable in their current activities.
Exporting is a profession in its own right and one that can not be improvised when it comes to reaching sophisticated markets like those of the European Union.
Exporting involves putting in place procedures and human and financial resources to reach targets. It is important to adopt a proactive rather than a passive stance: no one expects new entrants in a competitive market for a basic commodity, especially since the market is already largely occupied by subsidiaries of international groups and traders. It is essential to move forward to stand out from the crowd.
Exporting cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire requires a thorough understanding of the specific workings of the market regulation system set up by the government through the CCC. This will be a (major) additional constraint compared with free markets in the rest of Africa (excluding Ghana) and Latin America. Developing a strong network of connections within the CCC is an indispensable condition for export development.
Candidates for direct exports should not dream. The margin gain compared with selling to a local operator is very small and may not justify the effort and difficulties that lie ahead.
But exporting cocoa can also be about women and men who manage to make a name for themselves by using a story, their story, to reach another story, that of the artisan chocolatier who will use their beans. It is about having a clear vision of what you can offer and achieve and knowing your ecosystem right down to the consumers of the developed products.
