Ivory Coast head of sector regulator on Friday said the country would increase the amount of cocoa it processes domestically to 49 per cent of production starting from October.

It said the country will try to meet its target with the addition of several new plants.

Cote d’Ivoire is the world’s top cocoa producer with annual production of about 2.2 million tonnes.

Currently about 35 to 40 per cent is processed in the country and the rest exported, but the government has a goal of increasing that to at least 50 per cent.

Yves Brahima Kone, Director-General of the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), went to Abu Dhabi this month to open a new CCC office.

Mr Kone said Ivory Coast has signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the construction of a new plant in San Pedro with a grinding capacity of 120,000 tonnes.

“This permanent representation (in Abu Dhabi) is the fruit of our new vision for Ivorian cocoa that we want to export all over the world.

“This office will allow us to explore markets in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa,” he told Reuters.

Mr Kone added that Ivory Coast also expects two new factories financed by China to enter into production in October, with a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes each.

The new plants will allow the country to process more than one million tonnes of cocoa annually, making it the world’s leading cocoa grinder, he said.

Currently it vies with the Netherlands for top spot.

The state has implemented an aggressive policy in recent years to make local processing attractive, including offering tax cuts and other incentives to Ivorian companies. 

(Reuters/NAN)