Côte d’Ivoire To Sell Additional Stake In Cocoa Processor To Malaysian Firm To Boost Processing Capacity

Côte d’Ivoire is considering selling an additional stake in its cocoa processor, Transcao, to Malaysian cocoa company Guan Chong Berhad (GCB), according to the country’s cocoa regulator, as reported by Reuters.

GCB’s Singapore subsidiary recently acquired a 25 per cent stake in Transcao from Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa regulator, Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC).

CCC Director, Yves Kone, said the country is open to GCB increasing its stake further, depending on government approval.

“We want to go beyond and master all the trades related to processing, and GCB will help us achieve this goal,” Kone told Reuters.

He further said the partnership with GCB will also provide training for Ivorians to learn from GCB’s expertise in commercial and technical operations.

Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s largest cocoa producer, but most of its cocoa is exported as raw beans. The partnership with GCB is part of the country’s plan to become a major player in cocoa processing.

Transcao currently operates one plant with a capacity of 50,000 metric tons, and a second plant is set to open by the end of 2024, bringing Transcao’s total capacity to 190,000 tons by the end of 2025, according to Kone.

In a bid to encourage local cocoa processing, Côte d’Ivoire government has been implementing policies including tax breaks and incentives for domestic companies.

The West African country aims to increase its overall cocoa processing capacity to over 1 million tons from about 800,000 within the next two years, as more plants under construction become operational.

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