Ivory Coast has appointed around 20 local exporters to handle the top cocoa grower’s contracts with international buyers, according to a marketing board official and exporters, as part of reforms to boost the position of domestic companies. The contracts, which involve the delivery of cocoa to buyers outside Ivory Coast, represent around 200,000 tonnes of the country’s annual exports of roughly 1.5 million tonnes. For the period running from October to December, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) attributed contracts totalling 40,000 tonnes to local exporters, with volumes varying from 500 to 15,000 tonnes, a CCC official said. According to exporters, the companies receiving the largest contracts include SONAMAT, with 1,500 tonnes for Cargill , AGRICOM, with 1,500 tonnes for ADM, and Novel SA Cote d’Ivoire, with 1,500 tonnes for Sucden. Africa Sourcing, formerly known as Armajaro Negoce, will handle contracts for 15,000 tonnes of cocoa and CNEK 1,500 tonnes, but the buyers were not identified. A second list of exporters will be released in December for the first three months of 2015. “It’s an opportunity for us to prove ourselves,” said Michael Gbetibouo, director of UCOM, a cooperative that received a contract to deliver 700 tonnes of cocoa to Sucden. “We, the little guys, can get bigger if the state helps us.” Previously half of the contracts were allocated to exporters by the CCC while the international buyers chose the other half. International firms, which export the vast majority of Ivory Coast’s cocoa, criticised the CCC’s decision to favour local exporters. In order to export to international buyers companies must secure supplies, condition the cocoa and pay all export fees before receiving payment. “They won’t be capable of keeping to their contractual obligations because they don’t have the necessary financial means and expertise,” said the director of one Abidjan-based European exporter. “They won’t be able to get the volumes.” Local buyers disagree. “It’s an argument that does not stand up. We can live up to our obligations. We already hold more stocks than the CCC has authorised us to export,” said the director of a second local exporter that benefitted from the move.