ACA Welcomes the Executive Secretary of Consultative International Cashew Council


It is with great pleasure that the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) announces the appointment of Mr. André Mahoutin TANDJIEKPON as Executive Secretary of the Consultative International Cashew Council (CICC). Following an intensive recruitment process, he has been designated by the Council of Ministers, the supreme authority of the organization, to manage the CICC. The Executive Secretariat is one of the two permanent organs of the CICC headed by its Executive Secretary appointed by the Council of Ministers. The Executive Secretariat is accountable to the Council of Ministers for the administration and operation of the Secretariat of the Institution.

CICC is an international organization with legal capacity and financial autonomy responsible for promoting the sustainable development of cashew in the World. Established on November 18, 2016 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the CICC aims to create a consultation framework as well as synergies between member states towards a sustainable cashew sector.

The ACA is currently the Lead Facilitator of the Private Sector Wing in the CICC representing the private sector of the African cashew industry. ACA works closely with the CICC for the promotion and development of the private sector within the Council. To strengthen this collaboration, ACA strives to bridge the gap between the cashew private sector and the Council by engaging the public sector organizations in private sector advocacy actions, contributing to the implementation of projects and providing advisory services on key areas of the value chain in relation to private sector development in member countries.

Current member countries of CICC are Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo.

André Mahoutin Tandjiekpon is an accomplished expert on cashew value chains with more than thirty publications and technical documents that have positively impacted their promotion in Africa.

He was one of the forerunners in the promotion of the cashew sector in Benin within the National Agricultural Research Institute of Benin (INRAB) for almost two decades before joining the German International Cooperation (GIZ)’s project African Cashew/ComCashew Initiative in July 2009 as the National Coordinator for Benin of the African Cashew/ComCashew Initiative. In January 2013, André became ComCashew's Production Director based at its Regional Office in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) where he coordinated production, research and capacity building interventions under the Master Training Programme (MTP/ComCashew) in the five project countries. In November 2015, he was Production Director of the BeninCajù project for the integration and acceleration of the cashew sector in Benin, jointly implemented by TechnoServe and Catholic Relief Service and funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is from the latter position that he is called upon to ensure the Executive Secretariat of the CICC.

Mr. Tandjiekpon earned a DEA/Master's Degree in Environment & Sustainable Development from the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) in 2004, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Forestry Science from the International Institute for Aerospace Surveys and Earth Science in Enschede (The Netherlands) in 1993, a Master's degree in Geography from the National University of Benin in 1992 and a Diploma in Higher Technician Studies from the Polytechnic University School (CPU) of Benin in 1983. André also holds since 2013 a Gestalt Practitioner Certificate in Organizational and Institutional Development from the Ghana Centre for Organizational Development & Cleveland - OSD Gestalt Institute. He is very familiar with the languages of public, private and NGO stakeholders with extensive experience in facilitating stakeholder dialogues.

Please join us in welcoming Andre Mahoutin Tandjiekpon to his new post!