The drop in beans arrivals is expected to last until the end of the main harvest in February and March, and might extend into the first two months of the mid-crop harvest in April and May if rains do not arrive with more regularity, exporters, farmers and buyers told Reuters. Cocoa farming requires heavy rainfall with spells of sunshine for drying of beans.
Mali's junta leader has pardoned 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested in July and accused of conspiring against the Malian government, the presidency said in a statement on Friday. The soldiers' arrest sparked a diplomatic dispute between Mali and neighbouring Ivory Coast, and widespread condemnation from regional leaders against a country already at odds with the international community.
Ivory Coast expects all its cocoa will be traceable down to the individual farmer level by October next year as the world's top cocoa producer ramps up efforts to tackle deforestation ahead of a looming EU forest protection law. The European Commission proposed a law late last year aimed at preventing the import of commodities linked to deforestation by requiring companies to prove their global supply chains are not contributing to the destruction of forests.
Ivory Coast's economy is expected to grow by 7.2% in 2022, the Minister of Economic Planning and Development Niale Kaba said on Wednesday. The government's prediction is higher than a World Bank estimate of 5.7% growth for 2022.
The minister spoke ahead of a meeting on June 15 during which there will be a round table to raise 9.9 billion CFA francs ($16 million), he said.
Kaba said Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, was shifting from an agricultural to an industrial economy. But he added that the growth figure could be revised due to the impact of external shocks such as the war in Ukraine.
The minister spoke ahead of a meeting on June 15 during which there will be a round table to raise 9.3 billion CFA francs ($15.24 million), he said.