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Struggling cocoa farmers in West Africa’s top producers have little to show from a record-beating rally in the price of the commodity — which now shows signs of easing as chocolate lovers cut back on consumption. 

We saw numerous dry and abandoned farms, some pocked with illegal mines, when we drove some 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) through key cocoa-growing areas in Ivory Coast and Ghana hard hit by climate change and a virulent disease that’s decimated crops. 

An illegal gold mine next to a cocoa plantation in western Ghana.  Photographer: Evgeny Maloletka/Bloomberg

Massive investment is required to replant trees and install irrigation systems and other technology to reverse the downward trend in production. Ghana alone needs to spend about $1.2 billion, but resuscitation efforts are constrained because the country is heavily indebted.

The cocoa-price surge should have been a boon for the Ivorian and Ghanaian governments and their farmers, providing them with a buffer to deal with any market downturn and adverse weather conditions.

But most of their crop is typically sold in advance of the harvest, with growers earning a government-set price. That’s meant they saw little immediate benefit as New York cocoa futures nearly tripled over the past two years. 

Some have called for a system overhaul, but regulators have pushed back.

“Ivory Coast can’t change its marketing system from one day to the next depending on the market,” said Arsene Dadie, a director at its regulator, Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao. “The country has to manage a large volume of the world harvest, and we are not going to follow the market blindly.”

While the next harvest is expected to be marginally better than the previous one, yields are unlikely to match those reaped before inclement conditions and swollen shoot disease set in and curbed output.

The upshot is that farmers face a long and tough road to recovery, while the days of cheap chocolate being readily available won’t be back any time soon. — Mumbi Gitau

Key stories and opinion:
Cocoa Crunch Isn’t Over Yet as Top Growers Struggle With Supply 
Cocoa Traders Seek Edge From Old-School Counters Amid Turmoil 
High Cocoa Prices Push Historic Chocolatiers to Bankruptcy 
Why Cocoa Prices Spiked, What It Means for Consumers: QuickTake 
Ivory Coast Raises New Cocoa-Crop Price Amid Smaller Harvest

A draft executive order from US President Donald Trump’s administration that’s circulating among US diplomats proposes radical changes at the State Department. The directive would usher in one of the biggest reorganizations of the department since its founding in 1789, eliminating dozens of positions and divisions — including those dealing with climate, refugees, democracy and Africa. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the reported overhaul “fake news” in a post on X. 

Marco Rubio. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg

South Sudan will send envoys to Washington in coming days to discuss the return of 137 nationals the US intends to deport. “This delegation will work in close coordination with the US Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate an orderly, legal and dignified return process,” Vice President Bol Mel’s office said. Earlier this month, the US suspended visas for all South Sudanese nationals after the East African nation refused to receive a deportee who it insisted wasn’t a citizen. South Sudan later reversed its decision. 

Zambia aims to sign debt-restructuring deals with its remaining bilateral creditors by the third quarter, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said, helping to bring closure to a years-long process. The copper-rich southern African nation has already finalized deals with France and Saudi Arabia, but agreements with China and other creditor countries are pending. “Right now, those technical details are being worked out,” Musokotwane said in an interview from Washington.

WATCH: Musokotwane speaks with Matthew Hill on Bloomberg TV.

South Africa’s second-biggest party is pressing ahead with a court challenge to stop a proposed tax increase — a case that’s threatened to fracture the coalition government. The High Court is hearing the case by the Democratic Alliance to scrap a hike in VAT from next month. The impasse has pitted the DA against the African National Congress — the largest group in the 10-member ruling alliance. The potential withdrawal of the business-friendly DA has raised concerns among investors that rival parties, including the populist Economic Freedom Fighters, could take its place.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government will initiate legal proceedings against ex-President Joseph Kabila for allegedly supporting Rwanda-backed rebels. Kabila crossed into the rebel-controlled city of Goma from neighboring Rwanda last week, infuriating incumbent leader Felix Tshisekedi. The M23 militants seized Goma with Rwandan backing in January and have since continued to expand their territory in eastern Congo, drawing international condemnation and sanctions. Rwanda has denied backing the group.

A presidential campaign billboard from 2019 bearing an image of Joseph Kabila, right. Photographer: John Wessels/Bloomberg

A Tunisian court issued prison sentences ranging from 13 to 66 years for dozens of people charged with “conspiring against the state’s security,” the state-run TAP news agency reported. More than 40 individuals — some of whom are under detention and others who are on the run and have been tried in absentia — have been swept up in the case that dates to early 2023. They include ex-politicians, journalists and a former central bank governor.

Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Keith Atkinson, who was first to identify Lesotho as the African nation that became the latest to grant Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service an operating license.

Gold extended a blistering rally to rise above $3,500 an ounce for the first time as concern that Trump could fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell triggered a flight from US stocks and bonds, and the dollar. The US leader called on the Fed to cut interest rates immediately, a move seen as a threat to the central bank’s independence. “Gold’s rapid ascent this year tells me that markets have less confidence in the US than ever,” said Lee Liang Le, an analyst at Kallanish Index Services. “The ‘Trump Trade’ narrative has evolved into a ‘sell America’ narrative,” she said. 

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back in your inbox with the next edition on Friday. Send any feedback to mcohen21@bloomberg.net