Ondo hosts maiden cocoa industry, investment conference

Ondo State government has concluded the maiden Akure Commodity Exchange, initiated by the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko to help farmers midwife their sale internationally.

The 1st International Cocoa Industry and Investment Conference, held from Tuesday, November 1 to Thursday November 3, 2016, was facilitated by government in partnership with private partners and Parastatals.

Notable speakers include the Chief Executive Officer, Africa Commodity Exchange, Malawi, Kristian Moller; Dr Gideon Onumah of Natural Resources Institute, Greewich University, United Kingdom and Adam Gross of Partner GMEX International, among other top national and international Cocoa industry practitioners, investors, researchers, bankers and thinkers.

Based on its objective, the Conference has identified existing job opportunities and also created new opportunities in the production, processing, marketing and export of Cocoa beans and products from Nigeria to the international market.

With the theme: Commodity Exchange, a platform for enhancing Opportunities for the Nigerian Cocoa Industry, the Conference also has the tag:  Nigerian Cocoa, Global Product, which served as a platform for global discuss to effectively ensure Comprehensive Multi-level, Multi Sectoral, Integrated and Profitable Interaction between all stakeholders and players in the Nigeria Cocoa Industry.

The Conference also featured industry showcase and launching of the Akure Commodity Exchange Trading platform, as well as, featuring of cocoa producers, buyers, products, designs, and experiments from all over Nigeria.

The Conference presents a promotional image enhancement platform for the organisations in the Industry to connect with industry giants, Small and Medium Enterprises and Cocoa cultivators to ultimately advance Nigeria’s Cocoa production indices.