Cocoa in Ghana
Trade among European and African precolonial nations developed relatively recently in the economic history of the African continent.
Prior to the European voyages of exploration in the fifteenth century, African rulers and merchants had established trade links with the Mediterranean world, western Asia, and the Indian Ocean region.
Goods Europeans import to Africa in greatest volumes included cloth, iron, and copper. As trade advances, the Europeans made Africa the number one market for all their needed raw materials for goods consumption. Cocoa is one of the major products exported largely to Europe.
As the highest cocoa producing country in West Africa, Ivory Coast leads with the highest percentage export of cocoa beans to Europe, followed by Ghana. Other African countries that export cocoa beans to Europe are Cameroun and Nigeria.
Large tons of cocoa beans leaving the ports of West Africa end up in Switzerland, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Denmark, and France, of which it is used to manufacture chocolate products.
The European Union and its members are responsible for about 50% of the world's cocoa consumption.
The European Union Association is a trade association representing the European sector and regrouping the major companies involved in the cocoa bean trade and processing.
Conflicts in Africa can sometimes affect the price of cocoa. For example, the Ivory Coast civil war escalated the price of cocoa to 3.333 dollars per ton, the highest price since the beginning of the year 2010.
But from every angle, it is clear that cocoa trade between Africa and Europe plays a significant role in enhancing the economy of Europe.