The Director-General of Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Olusola Obadimu, has advised Cocoa processors to engage more with the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control to find a common ground following their disagreement over the agency’s proposed Export Regulation 2024.
On Tuesday, the Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria declared their disapproval of NAFDAC’s proposed regulation, calling it a duplication of efforts and an overlap of government agency functions.
The Chairman of COPAN, Felix Oladunjoye, claimed NAFDAC’s proposed policy would stifle the already burdened non-oil export sector, particularly the cocoa processing industry and questioned the agency’s reach in issuing business certification in the cocoa industry.
“When you apply for NAFDAC’s certification, it takes three months to get your goods certified. NAFDAC is also not part of the bodies being recognised in the business of issuing certification as far as cocoa is concerned,” Oladunjoye said.
The NACCIMA DG, in a chat with our correspondent, sought a resolution to the disagreement between the agency and cocoa industry players.
According to Obadimu, NAFDAC needs to actively work to be perceived as a standard enforcement organisation and not a revenue-generating agency of government.
He stressed the need for more engagement, saying, “If they (cocoa processors) can engage NAFDAC, it will be more beneficial to both parties. So, NAFDAC can let them know, specifically, why they are coming into the space and reassure them that the intention is not to make more money from them but to help them make more money.
“If they are more export ready, it is in their best interest rather than having rejected goods.”
COPAN’s concerns with a proposed regulation from NAFDAC dovetailed with their calls for economic intervention in the industry.
The association called for a state of emergency in Nigeria’s cocoa industry, as it pointed out that less than 20,000 cocoa were processed, despite a capacity to process over 250,000 if all the factories were up to speed.
“We are losing lots of employment opportunities, while many investors are looking elsewhere to invest because the government of the day is frustrating businesses,” Oladunjoye said.
He stated that of the 15 cocoa factories set up in 1986, only four were struggling to stay afloat, and operated at less than 30 per cent of their installed capacity due to the harsh business terrain.
He listed the exit of multinationals with investments in the cocoa sector, high taxes and unemployment from the non-use of machinery and equipment worth over N500bn as some of the challenges being faced.
“We have lots of multinationals who have invested in the sector and over 80 per cent have closed shops, but as Nigerians, we have decided to take our destinies into our hands,” Oladunjoye said.
As of July 2024, Nigeria is the world’s fourth largest producer of cocoa, after Ivory Coast, Indonesia, and Ghana. Nigeria’s annual production is around 340,000 metric tonnes, accounting for about 12 per cent of global production.
Nigeria is also the third largest exporter of cocoa in Africa.
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