18th ACA Annual Cashew Conference and Expo: Benin 2024

18TH ACA ANNUAL CASHEW CONFERENCE AND EXPO: BENIN 2024


The 18th African Cashew Alliance (ACA) Annual Cashew Conference and Expo was successfully held at the SOFITEL Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa IN Cotonou, Benin, from September 17 to 20, 2024 under the theme “Building Capacity for a Sustainable African Cashew Industry”. Benin has therefore become the second country after Mozambique to host the ACA Conference a record 3 times since its inception in 2006, doing so at a time when the country’s cashew industry has drawn so much attention following the decision by government to ban export of raw cashew nuts (RCN) to promote local processing.

Commendably, the government of Benin in partnership with private sector is constructing 10 cashew processing factories in Benin, five of which are already operational. Considering these bold, significant, and in some views controversial policy decisions in not just Benin but also some other African countries, the theme for the 2024 ACA Conference presented the opportunity to reflect on the need to build the right human resource, policy and infrastructural capacity to propel sustainable growth in the cashew industry in Africa and beyond.

Very characteristic of ACA Conferences, delegates of this year’s Conference witnessed the unique display of Benin culture in music and dance at the official opening ceremony held on the 17th September 2024. The colorful ceremony was graced by important national officials, the diplomatic corps and various captains of the cashew industry. Benin’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Her Excellency Madam Alimatou Shadiya ASSOUMAN, was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony, who officially opened the Conference. In her speech, she reiterated Benin's commitment to increasing local processing by creating an industrial economic zone and banning the export of raw nuts. Other speakers at the opening ceremony were the President of the ACA, Honourable Babatola Faseru, the President of IFA – Benin, Mr Moussa Do Rego, the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation in Cotonou, Joel Neubert, the Team Leader of the GIZ/MOVE/ComCashew, Madam Beate Weiskopf, and the Executive Secretary of the Consultative International Cashew Council, Mr André Mahoutin Tandjiekpon. Also present at the ceremony was Mr. Acir PIMENTA MADEIRA, responsible for the Interim Affairs of the Ambassador of Brazil to Benin, the representative of His Excellency the Ambassador of Brazil to Benin.

The Opening ceremony was followed by the official opening of a 3-day International Cashew Expo held from 17th to 19th September 2024. A total of 30 exhibition booths were set up with 25 organizations and businesses participating. This year’s exhibition featured exhibitors from Benin, Burkina Faso, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Vietnam, and India. A variety of cashew products were showcased including cashew kernels, cashew apple juice and other wonderful cashew products processed in Africa. The exhibition also featured some of the biggest cashew machine manufactures in the world and development partners and projects working in Africa. The variety of local cashew products in Cotonou is another indication of the strides Africa is making in local cashew processing. Day one of the Conference ended with an opening cocktail.

The second and third days of the Conference were educative and insightful. There were 7 plenary sessions on various topics, a marketing workshop dupped GME Live with Jim Fitzpatrick, 2 production sessions and a Cashew Women Meeting.

The opening plenary was moderated by the Team Leader of the GIZ/MOVE Project, Madam Rita Weidinger with a scene-setter presentation by cashew expert, Jim Fitzpatrick of the Ingredient Sourcing Solutions. The session discussed the topic, Policies to promote cashew processing in Africa: Are we making impact? Panellists of the opening session included:

  • Mamadou Berté, CCA, Côte d’Ivoire
  • Srivatsava Ganapathy, Eventell Global Advisory, Inde
  • Alfred Francis, CBT, Tanzania
  • Sophal Laikong, Cashew Federation of Cambodge
  • Boubacar Konta, ICAS, Sénégal
  • Hon William Quaittoo, TCDA, Ghana
  • KODJA Paul-Marie, APIEX, Benin

Key highlights of the session included:

  • There is uneven distribution of local cashew processing in different countries.
  • Persistent management, financing, marketing and supply chain challenges at processor level.
  •  Although volumes of processed cashew are increasing in Africa, it is essential to learn from past failures in Mozambique and Tanzania to ensure the industry's future sustainability
  • It is also imperative that African processors position themselves effectively in the face of international competition

Two other important sessions were Plenary sessions 3 and 4, sponsored by the EU. Session 3, discussed the topic, Addressing Human Rights Violations in the Cashew Value Chains - Which opportunities and challenges present the new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)?  Plenary session 4 was also on the topic, Promoting Environmental Sustainability in the Cashew Sector. These two sessions highlighted pertinent issues concerning EU regulations and human rights issues in the cashew industry. Click here to read full Conference synthesis.

The ACA Business to business meeting returned strongly this year.  The ACA facilitated several B2B meetings among conference delegates, providing professional translation services where necessary. There was a learning filed visit to the Glo-Djigbè industrial zone where the government of Benin is partnering with the private sector to build several cashew processing facilities, some of which are already operational.

The official closing ceremony and gala dinner of the 18th ACA Annual Conference was held in the evening of the 19th September 2024 and graced by Benin’s Minister of Agriculture. Two important activities took place at the dinner. First, Hon Babatola Faseru announced that he had stepped down as President of the ACA following his appointment as Commissioner of Agriculture for Osun State in Nigeria. He then proceeded to hand over to Mr Ibrahim SANFO who has been elected by the ACA Board of Directors at its meeting held on 16th September 2024 as new ACA Board President. Secondly, special awards and recognition were given to some deserving industry players for various roles in the cashew industry, including Mr Babatola Faseru and the Mr Roland Zal who is also leaving the ACA Board after several years of serving on it. A major highlight of the evening was the presentation of a lifetime award and citation to Madam Rita Weidinger, Team Leader of the GIZ/MOVE, who after more than 2 decades in the cashew industry in Africa, is set to depart the industry.

Finally, the new President of the ACA, Mr Ibrahim SANFO, announced Tanzania as the next host of the 19th ACA Annual Cashew Conference and Expo in 2025. Director General of the Cashew nuts Board of Tanzania, Mr Alfred Francis, thanked the Board and Management of the ACA for trusting Tanzania to host the next Conference. He said the government and cashew family in Tanzania will work together with the ACA to host a memorable Conference in 2025.

Sponsors and partners

The 18th ACA Annual Cashew Conference & Expo was organized by the ACA in partnership with the IFA – Benin, Benin’s Ministry Industry and Trade, and Ministry of Agriculture. It was sponsored by the European Union (EU), the Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), the GIZ/MOVE Project, USDA project, Prosper Cashew and LIFFT Cashew, USAID, USAID/ATI, CICC, Prosper Africa, MEKONG Technology, Meryer Sorting Solutions, and H – Power Group.

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