Once the world’s cocoa king, Nigeria’s cocoa industry has been stuck in the mud for decades, overshadowed by oil and plagued by neglect. In May 2025, President Bola Tinubu’s administration approved the National Cocoa Management Board (NCMB), rekindling hope among farmers in Ondo, Ogun, and beyond. From Lagos markets to global exporters, everyone’s asking: Can the board bring back the glory days and turn Nigeria’s cocoa into a chocolate industry?
Rewind to the 1960s and Nigeria was the world’s second largest cocoa producer, trailing only Ghana. Cocoa beans from the lush farms of Ondo, Ogun, Oyo and Osun powered nearly half of the nation’s export, filling markets with rich aroma of promise. In the 1970s oil boom shifted focus, and the 1986 dissolution of the cocoa marketing board left farmers stranded.
Ageing trees, pests like black pods disease, and crumbling roads took their toll. By 2010, cocoa shares of agricultural sector contribution to GDP had shriveled to a mere 0.3 percent, and Nigeria slipped to fourth globally behind Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia, exporting 340,000 metric tonnes. The decline hit not just numbers, livelihoods were badly impacted.
Cocoa board making the right moves
Announced by the Federal Executive Council on May 5, 2025, the National Cocoa Management Board (NCMB) aims to turn things around. The goals are ambitious. They include to coordinate production, and stabilise prices, as well as boost local processing, which currently accounts for less than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa output. Unlike the old plan, the NCMB aims to offer low interest credit to smallholder farmers, introduce smart climate practices to combat deforestation, and align with global standards like the European Union deforestation regulations. With Nigeria reported to have earned ₦1.4 trillion in the first nine months 2024 exporting cocoa, a 304 percent surge fueled by global hike in prices, the timing feels right.
The board also eyes value addition. Nigerian earns about US$750 per tonne for raw beans, but could fetch $4,000 for processed products like cocoa butter or chocolate.
Lesson from neighbours, challenges at home
Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s cocoa giants and leading cocoa producers, together accounting for about 60 per cent of global cocoa output, offer lessons. The presence of centralised cocoa boards that deliver. Nigeria cocoa board must be empowered to regulate the industry effectively. The training extension services must be scaled up in Nigeria to boost productivity.
Pushing for local processing instead of exporting raw beans will boost the local economy, create jobs, and increase export value. As the country as demonstrated in the oil and gas industry with the enactment of the NOGICD Act 2010, localising activities in a sector leads to wealth creation, industrialisation and upskilling the populace.
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The NCMB could transform Nigeria’s Cocoa game if it delivers. Local processing could create thousands of jobs, from factory workers in Lagos to chocolatiers in Abuja and other major towns.
Imagine a Nigerian brand side-by-side the well-known Swiss chocolate brands, carrying the made in Nigeria tag on shelves in major shops across the world. That would be something.
But success hinges on fast actions. Farmers need tools, not just promises. Youth in Ogun and Ondo drawn to tech and music must see cocoa as a vibe, not a burden. If the NCMB empowers cooperative, tackles infrastructure, Nigeria could reclaim its cocoa crown.
Will this board spark a chocolate industrialisation?
