Ivory Coast increases support for cocoa exporters, say sources
By Ange Aboa
ABIDJAN, Aug 23 (Reuters) -Ivory Coast's government will increase its support for small local cocoa exporters to help them more than double their annual purchasing volumes, two government sources said on Friday.
Ivorian exporters, which have been struggling to secure financing from local banks due to financial difficulties, have to compete with financially secure international players.
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, produced on average 2.2 million tons of beans over the past three years with big multinationals accounting for around 80% of purchases and exports.
At the start of the new cocoa season in October, the government will grant small exporters subsidies of 10 billion CFA francs ($16.75 million) per year over the next four years to help them increase the purchasing volumes to 500,000 metric tons.
The government used to grant around 3 billion CFA francs per year. This amount allowed exporters and cooperatives buying and exporting cocoa beans to reach between 150,000 and 200,000 tons per season.
"Our aim is to have national champions in the cocoa sector in order to increase their purchasing volumes, which represent less than 10% of our annual production," said one of the sources, who works in the prime minister's office.
The other source, who is an official at the agriculture ministry, said this financing should encourage banks to extend loans to small exporters as they will be more financially sound.
It should also provide extra support as the European Union prepares to implement new regulations on the import of commodities linked to deforestation, which will make competition among exporters fiercer.
Yves Brahima Kone, managing director of the Ivory Coast Coffee and Cocoa Council, the national regulator, told Reuters that though the subsidy was a good gesture, the government needed to do more to make Ivorian companies competitive with other exporters.
"If the government wants to achieve this goal, it will need to provide greater, more substantial and sustainable financial support. It's possible, but it will require a larger subsidy," Kone said.
($1 = 597.0000 CFA francs)
Editing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
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