Global Witness - Breaking the links between natural resources, conflict and corruption
Global Witness report calls on chocolate industry to clean up its act
Press Release – 08/06/2007
Over US$118 million from the cocoa trade has funded both sides of the recent armed conflict in Côte d'Ivoire, alleges a new Global Witness report released today. Côte d'Ivoire is the world's biggest producer of cocoa for the global chocolate industry.
The report, Hot Chocolate: how cocoa fuelled the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire, shows how international cocoa-exporting companies have contributed significantly to the finances of both the Ivorian government and the Forces Nouvelles (FN), the rebel group holding on to the northern half of Côte d'Ivoire.
Since September 2002, the fighting in Côte d'Ivoire has claimed thousands of civilian lives and led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Poverty is now affecting more than 40% of the population.
"There is a high chance that your chocolate bar contains cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire and may have funded the conflict there, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth," said Patrick Alley, director at Global Witness. "The chocolate industry should clean up its act and ensure that it only sells conflict-free chocolate."
40% of the world's cocoa comes from Côte d'Ivoire, twice as much as the next biggest supplier, Ghana. Cocoa is the main economic resource of the volatile West African state, representing on average 35% of the total value of Ivorian exports, worth around US$1.4 billion per year.
Hot Chocolate documents patterns of mismanagement of revenues, opacity of accounts, corruption and political favouritism in the cocoa sector in Côte d'Ivoire. It presents detailed evidence showing:
- the diversion of more than US$58 million from cocoa levies to the government's war effort.
- a link between two major Western companies and diversion of some funds from the cocoa trade. Two senior directors of cocoa companies - one from Cocoa SIFCA, the Ivorian subsidiary of US food group Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the other from Dafci, then owned by French conglomerate Bolloré - were both representing Côte d'Ivoire's biggest exporters' union on the board of the Ivorian cocoa institution, the Bourse du Café et Cacao, at the time the funds were diverted.
- the strategy used by the Forces Nouvelles rebels to raise approximately US$30 million a year by taxing cocoa transiting through the north and preventing northern-produced cocoa from transiting south into the government-controlled zone. This parallel tax system has not only enabled the FN to survive as a movement but has allowed individual FN officials to enrich themselves to the detriment of the population of northern Côte d'Ivoire.
- a pattern of intimidation against those who have investigated or denounced corruption in the cocoa trade - from the disappearance and probable murder of Franco-Canadian journalist Guy-André Kieffer in 2004 to the kidnapping of a French lawyer who was auditing the cocoa sector for the European Union.
Global Witness is calling for action by international companies involved in the cocoa trade: "Consumers should phone the helpline numbers on the back of their chocolate bars and demand that chocolate companies push their suppliers to support farmers, not the war effort. Suppliers should be transparent about where their money goes. They should ensure that it supports development in Côte d'Ivoire and not unaccountable elites on either side of the crisis," said Alley.
At a time when the government and the Forces Nouvelles are attempting to tie up a peace deal, it is crucial that both sides stop diverting cocoa revenues and concentrate on ending patterns of corruption and mismanagement.
The full report, Hot Chocolate: how cocoa fuelled the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire, is available at www.globalwitness.org
For further information, please contact:
In West Africa: Maria Lopez: +221 224 46 55
In the UK: Rosie Sharpe: +44 (0)20 7561 6393/ +44 (0)7884 042 254
Note to editors
Global Witness is an independent non-governmental organisation which investigates and campaigns on the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict and corruption.
All Global Witness's publications can be found at www.globalwitness.org
Other Languages
Latest Publications
March 2010
New evidence confirms oil revenue transparency still eludes Sudan
Large discrepancies persist between the oil production data published by the government of Sudan and those published by the main Chinese oil company operating in the country, Global Witness said today, six months after the publication of its report which first exposed the gaps.
Environmental groups call on French shipping company Delmas to cancel shipment of precious wood from Madagascar
Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today called on French shipping company Delmas to cancel a shipment to China of hundreds of tons of rosewood from the port of Vohémar, in northeastern Madagascar. The campaign groups accuse the company of facilitating the destruction of Madagascar’s last remaining forests caused by vast illegal logging of rosewood.
Open letter to Delmas shipping company raises concerns over rosewood shipments from Madagascar
An open letter from Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to Delmas shipping company expressing grave concerns at its involvement in the transport of timber from Madagascar which has been declared illicit by the Malagasy authorities. The groups accuse Delmas of facilitaitng the destruction Madagascar's remaining rosewood forests through illegal logging.
Link between Angolan president's son-in-law and state oil company raises questions about transparency
The son-in-law of the Angolan president has been nominated to the board of a holding company that owns a third of the Portuguese oil firm Galp Energia, which has investments in Angola. The nomination was made by the State oil company, Sonangol, which is responsible for managing Angola's oil on behalf of its citizens. This arrangement raises concerns about conflicts of interest to which Sonangol has not responded.
DR Congo: ex-rebels take over mineral trade extortion racket
Former rebels from the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) have established mafia-style extortion rackets covering some of the most lucrative tin and tantalum mining areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Global Witness reported today following four weeks of research in the region.
Global Witness concerned at choice of new Ukraine energy minister
Global Witness is concerned that Yuri Boyko, a controversial figure from the murky past of Ukraine’s gas industry, has been put back in effective charge of a key gas supply route from Russia to the European Union.
Landmark oil and mining transparency initiative faces credibility test as key deadline passes
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a pioneering initiative to bring more openness to the world's oil and mining industries, faces a major credibility test after 20 out of 22 countries failed to meet a key deadline today.
Global Witness urges Cambodia’s donors to condemn sponsorship of military units by private businesses
Aid donors to Cambodia, including the US, EU, Japan, China and the World Bank, should send a strong message to the government that they will not countenance the bankrolling of Cambodia’s military by private businesses. This call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units.
February 2010
A near miss? Lessons learnt from the allocation of mining licences in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone
Between 2005 and 2007, two mining licences were issued in the Gola Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone, even though the area was a proposed national park. This new report identifies weaknesses in Sierra Leone's natural resource governance and attempts to draw lessons for the future.
Parliamentary committee report on libel, privacy and press freedom not strong enough to defend public interest reporting
A report on press standards, privacy and libel makes broadly sensible recommendations but does not go far enough to allay fears that England's laws are a barrier to public-interest campaigning.
Campaigners criticise proposals to define palm oil plantations as forests
The Ecosystems Climate Alliance today criticised the EU and Indonesia for attempting to reclassify palm oil plantations as forests, saying this would be a step backwards in efforts to halt climate change though preventing deforestation.
