Africa has historically been the world's largest producer of high-quality cocoa beans. Ironically, very little finished chocolate products are created on the continent as a large percentage of its cocoa beans are exported to foreign nations for processing into chocolate. However, a group of women chocolatiers on the continent are creating sweet confections, and in doing so, they’re supporting sustainability, culture, and empowerment. AMAKA profiles some of the women entrepreneurs at the forefront of ensuring Africa contributes to the global chocolate market.

Chocolate tells a story but not just any story. The nine-step process that takes a handful of cocoa beans to a dainty chocolate bar on display in a candy store, tells a story of finesse, craftsmanship, and perseverance. The story begins with the harvesting and bagging of cocoa pods grown in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire, to the tasking process of depodding the cocoa beans and then refining them to create the much loved chocolate. Thankfully, the sensory delights that accompany a simple bar of chocolate or a box of classic brigadeiro, make up for the daunting production process. 

It is however disconcerting that although 70 percent of the world's cocoa beans are grown in Africa, the continent produces less than one percent of the world's chocolate. This irony and lost economic opportunity has not gone unnoticed by African women chocolatiers who through passion and entrepreneurial grit are creating indigenously African, fine chocolate brands.

These pioneering women have set up enterprises in their countries and are spearheading the production of artisanal chocolate brands that represent the best of Africa. Together, their approach to chocolate making is innovative and world class, presenting a celebration of Africa's stories, culture and culinary heritage in choco bites.  

Selassie Atadika, Founder of Midunu (Ghana)

After quitting an illustrious career with the United Nations, Selassie Atadika “distilled the essences and flavours of the African continent and now offers them in Ghanaian chocolates.” Founded in 2014, Atadika's Midunu chocolate brand offers artisanal, African inspired and handcrafted chocolate truffles made from a single source — Ghanaian cocoa. Midunu Chocolates are infused with “subtle infusions of continental bounty; teas, tisanes and spice blends,” and were created to fulfil Atadika's quest to “tell the African story through chocolates.” Their choco offerings are a chef-scripted love affair with the spices and unique flavours of the African Continent. 

Interestingly, the Midunu brand also demonstrates its affection for Africa through its carefully named and designed truffle variety. The confections are named after symbolic women in the region who inspired the bold flavours. For example, Midunu’s truffle infused with South African Rooibos is named Thando, while Almaz is infused with berbere spice from Ethiopia, and Adwoa has notes of prekese, a native Ghanaian spice. Their collection uses local ingredients like the moringa plant, floral Ethiopian chilli, and Cape Malay curry to make their candy a melting pot of all things African in origin. Through an avant-garde approach to chocolate truffle making, Atadika is advancing an extravagant celebration of Africa's cuisine and culinary heritage to a global audience. 

Vicki Bain founder of Chocoloza (South Africa) 

A unique indulgence of the best Belgian chocolates meshed with the finest local African ingredients is what South African chocolatier, Vicki Bain offers with Chocoloza, a proudly African chocolate company. Chocoloza produces fresh handmade Belgian chocolates with no flavourings, preservatives or oils at their workshop based in Johannesburg. Bain spent 14 years as an environmental and sustainability consultant before pursuing her passion for chocolates. She works with a team of women to create made in South Africa pralines and Belgian chocolates. Her vision is to produce quality chocolates with strong African roots. 

As a brand driven by sustainability and contributing to the local economy, Chocoloza obtains specially curated local ingredients — fresh organic limes, organic cream and milk, organic coffee and fresh ginger, basil and berries — from local farms and its fair trade partners. Their products are packaged in 100 percent recyclable boxes and they encourage eco-friendliness by offering a discount on chocolate refills for customers who reuse their boxes. Amaretta, Chilli, Lemon Grass, and Granadilla Passion are few of the many exotic flavours that accompany their marbled and glossy chocolate boxes. 

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Nathalie Gambah Kpante, Founder of Chocotogo (Togo)

In Kpalime, a city located in the southwestern part of Togo, lies a traditional factory that specialises in the extraction of chocolate paste. Another in Lome, the country's capital, specialises in the process of turning cocoa paste into chocolate and has storage and packaging facilities. These factories are an anomaly in a country historically known to export a hundred percent of its cocoa crop produce. Interestingly, they are in existence thanks to a thriving, woman-led, indigenous chocolate company, ChocoTogo. 

Nathalie Gambah Kpante's ChocoTogo is the first of its kind cocoa bean processing company in Togo. Kpante's company is set up in southwestern Togo, and has developed into a social enterprise where she extends the value chain of her country's cocoa produce, and promotes social initiatives and infrastructural development in local communities. 

ChocoTogo chocolates resonate well with consumers who adore farm-to-table food products because they are made purely from local ingredients; organic cocoa, peanuts, coconuts and ginger. Interestingly, Chocotogo's chocolate offerings have found success in Europe, where their granular chocolates are extremely popular. Chocotogo’s workforce is entirely local, and Kpante is changing the economic story of her country which for many years relied on just exporting cocoa beans. Now, she is helping to improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers and local households. 

Jaki Kweka, Founder of Chocolate Mamas - Gourmet Tanzanian Chocolate (Tanzania)

From being an attorney with a side hustle of making desserts, Jaki Kweka has attained continental renown for being the first and only indigenous Tanzanian business woman to produce luxury chocolates with her Chocolate Mamas brand. Established in 2012, Kweka’s company has consistently made massive waves in the African culinary industry with high-end, top quality gourmet chocolates. 

Chocolate Mamas - Gourmet Tanzanian Chocolate is produced from locally sourced ingredients, from the cocoa beans to the sugar and milk. And everything is handmade. Their offerings include a wide range of uniquely spiced hot pepper, orange, cinnamon, and coffee flavoured chocolates. The finished products are then quirkily packaged in recycled maize husks for extra authenticity. Kweka began using cocoa from small-scale farmers in southwestern Tanzania, after considering the high price of importing baking chocolate from Europe. Chocolate Mamas products are sold at premium prices in high-end shops in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, taking up a market space that was earlier dominated by western chocolate brands.   

Chiinga & Lynn Musonda Phiri, Founders of Savanna Premium Chocolate (Zambia)

Many successful companies are spurred by a formidable combination of sisterhood and passion. That’s exactly the case with Savanna Premium Chocolate. Renowned for its luxury African chocolate offerings, Savanna is a premium bean-to-bar chocolate company based in Lusaka, Zambia. 

As pioneers of premium quality chocolate production in their country, the goal of the Phiri sisters is to “build a global brand of luxury African chocolates,” and support and boost the value chain of the cocoa industry on the continent. Savanna Premium Chocolate has become a much needed answer to the lack of local chocolate brands in Zambia, a country with an abundance of cocoa. 

For the sisters, there is nothing quite like the taste, aroma and health benefits of cocoa processed in its purest form. Their chocolate collections are made from carefully picked single origin beans, with zero added preservatives, artificial flavours and colours, to preserve the native Zambian flavour. In recognition of its superior quality and taste, the brand won the 2019 European Bronze International chocolate award.

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Femi Oyedipe, Founder of Loshes Chocolate (Nigeria)

In a country where luxury chocolates are primarily associated with western brands, Femi Oyedipe's Loshes Chocolate is changing the narrative by being the only chocolate company that processes and produces handmade, artisanal chocolates in Nigeria. 

For Oyedipe, the path to becoming a chocolate giant in her home country was not “chocolatey” due to the challenges she encountered when she founded Loshes Chocolate, especially in a field where she is entirely self-taught. But her desire to be at the forefront of helping Nigeria exploit its chocolate production opportunities kept her going. Oyedipe has grown Loshes Chocolates into Nigeria's premier bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate company with operations in Lagos. 

Loshes chocolates offers a wide selection of handcrafted choco bars from recipes that utilise natural ingredients such as freshly dried fruits, nuts and chilli. Loshes choco bars are made with cocoa beans sourced from local farms in Ondo and Oyo states, southwestern Nigeria. As the only exclusively made-in-Nigeria chocolate brand, Loshes Chocolate wants to showcase chocolate confectionery craftsmanship, create value, and provide an alternative to imported chocolates, while building a sustainable enterprise.     

Dana Mroueh, Founder of MonChoco (Côte D’Ivoire)

In a culinary sector that sometimes spurs environmental damage, Dana Mroueh, an Ivorian business woman of French-Lebanese descent, is making organic, eco-friendly chocolates a staple in Côte D'Ivoire through her chocolate processing company, MonChoco. 

MonChoco was founded on, and operates by an environmentally friendly philosophy, utilising out-of-the-box, chocolate processing tools and systems that are kind to mother earth. Mroueh uses a power bike with a grinder attached to its wheels to crush unroasted chocolate beans into a paste before transforming it into candies and chocolate bars. The finished products are packaged in recycled paper and the cocoa shells are reused in inventive ways. MonChoco's offerings are uniquely flavoured, artisanal chocolates that have strong notes of raw cocoa and brown sugar, and are made with no additives and milk to preserve the authentic and natural nutrient of the cocoa beans. 

Despite producing the largest percentage of the world's cocoa crops, Côte D'Ivoire manufactures very little finished chocolate products. Mroueh is one of the small handful of indigenous Ivorian chocolate entrepreneurs who are establishing a previously non-existent chocolate production market in the world's leading producer and exporter of cocoa. MonChoco is elevating the Ivorian topography, its culture and the forgotten farmers through chocolate.