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Global cocoa prices have fallen sharply, prompting renewed focus on value addition under the Abuja Declaration.

Mining Technologies CEO Joshua Egbagbe says insecurity, illegal occupation of licensed sites and policy instability have cost him foreign technical partners and disrupted operations in Nigeria's solid minerals sector.

Nigeria and other African countries renewed calls for local raw-material processing at the Second African Raw Materials Summit, as a bill requiring 30 per cent value addition returned to President Tinubu for assent.

Nigeria uses only about 30% of its installed cocoa processing capacity, losing an estimated $2 billion a year in potential value addition, the Agriculture Ministry disclosed at a Lagos cocoa conference.

The country ships raw ore while importing processed products, ceding the industrial and jobs gains that processing would create, industry observers warn.