The Nigerian Export-Import Bank has introduced an online platform named ‘cocoaconnectafrica.com’ to establish market connections among farmers, aggregators, and buyers involved in the cocoa value chain across Africa.
Abubakar Bello, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEXIM Bank, announced this development during the one-day International Cocoa and Chocolate Forum 2024 in Lagos on Thursday.
The inauguration of the portal was conducted by Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperative, Trade, and Investment, as part of the conference organized by the International Cocoa Diplomacy in collaboration with NEXIM Bank.
Bello emphasized that the portal would facilitate seamless interaction among all stakeholders in the cocoa value chain, irrespective of their location, region, or country, once they register on the platform.
He highlighted that the portal is accessible from any device globally, aiming to empower individuals throughout the cocoa ecosystem and bring them closer to their objectives.
He stated,
- “The whole essence of this portal is to bring a marketplace as well as a resource centre in one place. We wanted to consolidate everything into one portal.”
- “When a buyer or a processor is looking for a certain type of product, a certain variety of cocoa, from any part of the country or outside the country, the buyer knows exactly where to go and how to reach that aggregator or farmer directly.”
- “It will also cut out middlemen since the main stakeholders can talk to each other directly on the same portal.”
- “Everybody involved in the cocoa sector can register and have a page on the portal to showcase their business and services.”
- “Buyers can reach out to farmers directly because their information will be displayed on it, also google map will identify the location of the farm for traceability,”
A similar platform is to be launched for other agricultural produce
Speaking further, the M.D. of NEXIM noted that they will be rolling out similar platforms for other agro products such as cashew and others.
Bello stated that the benefit of the portal extends beyond the mainstream value chain and assured that it would be readily available to all stakeholders.
