Chocolate And Coffee: Moving The Value Of African Agribusiness Onshore
From: africa.com
Sitting in the middle of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, you cannot ignore the diverse landscape of the country and its potential for agribusiness investment. Madagascar, similar to large part of Africa, has a vast amount of arable land that is bringing in investors in droves. Africa contains 58 percent of the world’s uncultivated, arable land, most of which lies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agribusiness has become the buzz in investment circles. This week’s article—the last in our series on FMCG in Africa—will look at the emerging investment opportunities coming out of African agribusiness.
The International Cocoa Council (ICCO) recently announced that four West African countries—Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon—produce more than 70 percent of the global cocoa supply yet 1 percent of finished chocolate comes from Africa. There are few African chocolate companies. A big opportunity exists to move the value chain onshore. Africa produces arguably the best tasting chocolate, and Madagascar’s Madécasse is one of the chocolate business’s most unexpected success stories.
