Africa Cocoa Finance & Investment Forum (ACFIF) – London 2026

Why It Matters

Resolving financing and processing shortfalls could boost farmer incomes, reduce exposure to global price swings and create investment opportunities across African value chains, reshaping how cocoa revenue is distributed. Establishing local trading and risk‑management mechanisms would strengthen supply security for global buyers and increase Africa’s share of the chocolate value chain.

Summary

The inaugural Africa Cocoa Finance & Investment Forum opened at the London Stock Exchange, convening industry, government and investors to address financing gaps and value‑addition in West and Central Africa’s cocoa sector. Speakers stressed that Africa produces about 70% of global cocoa but captures under 6% of chocolate industry value, and called for capital to build local processing, insurance and trading infrastructure. The International Cocoa Organization outlined recent market fundamentals: multi‑year supply deficits in 2022–24 drove price spikes, while 2025 has shown a moderate surplus, underscoring persistent volatility. Delegates signalled plans for an African cocoa exchange and targeted finance solutions to stabilize prices and retain more value on the continent.

Original Description

The Africa Cocoa Finance & Investment Forum (ACFIF) 2026 is a high level, pan African platform convening cocoa authorities, governments, industry leaders, and the global financial and investment community to advance dialogue on financing, investment, industrialisation, and long term value creation across Africa’s cocoa value chain. The Forum is intentionally investment led, designed to help the financial ecosystem identify and better understand bankable opportunities across production, processing, structured markets, and downstream manufacturing, while supporting Africa’s broader economic transformation and the delivery of sustainable, shared returns.

LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) is a diversified international markets infrastructure business —earning our clients’ trust for over 300 years. That legacy of customer-focused excellence ensures that you can rely on our expertise in capital formation, intellectual property and risk and balance sheet management. As global leaders in financial indexing, benchmarking and analytic services, we offer unrivalled access to international capital markets. Our high-performance technology solutions enable companies worldwide to access funds for growth and development. And with our Data & Analytics, Capital Markets and Post Trade divisions, we provide a comprehensive, integrated suite of trusted financial market infrastructure services that help our customers pursue—and achieve—their ambitions. That’s how we make a difference— ensuring people can meet their potential—worldwide.

Follow us on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/london-stock-exchange-group) and Twitter (@LSEGplc).