(Ecofin Agency) - Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, will meet with his Ghanaian counterpart Nana-Akufo Addo to discuss ways to reduce the gap between cocoa’s prices to producers in the countries, Bloomberg reported. 

The related measures aim to tackle illegal trafficking of the beans, and should be implemented before October 1, 2017, when will be fixed the minimum price to Ivorian producers for the 2017/18 main harvest season, revealed an anonymous source close to the case.

Many observers are pessimists regarding the strategy’s success, though it might help Ivory Coast avoid the loss of 400,000 tons of cocoa as Ghana’s prices are more attractive than its own ($1,223/t for Ghana against $1,725/t for Cote d’Ivoire). 

A concern which is quite understandable, especially since Ghana’s Cocoa Council (Cocobod) recently declared, via its head, Joseph Aidoo, its will to maintain cocoa’s price to producers the same as during the 2016/17 season (GHC7,600).     

Moreover, experts noted that even if they have in common a ban on cocoa export by land, the two countries have never been able to harmonize their prices despite recurrent talks between their respective governments, causing the phenomenon’s recrudescence since 2012. 

Let’s recall that, according to Bloomberg, Ivory Coast should apply a tariff of FCFA750/kg for the beans during the 2017/18 against FCFA1100 last year.

Espoir Olodo