The Bank of Industry (BOI) has launched an \u20ac85 million long-term financing facility to expand local cocoa processing, reduce Nigeria\u2019s dependence on raw bean exports, and increase value addition across the country\u2019s cocoa industry.\n<\/p>\n
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The initiative was announced on Tuesday by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BOI, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, during the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026 in Abuja, themed \u201cFrom Bean to Brand.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
According to Olusi, the financing programme reflects the bank\u2019s commitment to supporting industries that can drive economic growth, create jobs, and increase export earnings through value-added production rather than the export of raw agricultural commodities.\n<\/p>\n
The \u20ac85 million facility is being provided through a partnership between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Bank of Industry, with funding support from the European Union under its Global Gateway initiative.<\/p>\n
Olusi said approximately 70% of the financing will be directed towards Nigeria\u2019s cocoa and dairy sectors, which the bank considers critical for employment generation, rural development, and foreign exchange retention.\n<\/p>\n
He explained that the initiative aims to improve productivity, strengthen market access, and encourage local processing, ultimately increasing the incomes of cocoa farmers and processors across the country.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are particularly focused on cocoa value chains, which provide livelihoods for thousands of Nigerians. Through this initiative, we aim to enhance productivity, value addition, and market linkages that will directly improve the incomes of farmers and processors,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Beyond financing, BOI will provide technical assistance to help businesses comply with international quality, sustainability, and climate standards, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which has become a key requirement for accessing European markets.\n<\/p>\n
The bank also plans to introduce dedicated financing windows for smallholder farmers organised into cooperatives, offering concessionary loans to improve access to affordable capital and strengthen production capacity.<\/p>\n
Olusi noted that Nigeria continues to lose substantial economic value by exporting raw cocoa beans instead of processing them into higher-value products such as chocolate, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and cosmetics ingredients.\n<\/p>\n
He said increasing domestic processing could raise export earnings significantly, with processed cocoa products generating as much as $30,000 per tonne, compared to approximately $9,000 per tonne earned from exporting raw cocoa beans.\n<\/p>\n
The long-term goal, according to BOI, is to establish more cocoa processing facilities within producing communities, ensuring that jobs, taxes, and greater economic value remain within Nigeria while supporting industrialisation.\n<\/p>\n
Also speaking at the summit, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu, represented by the Director of Industrial Development, Mohammed Bala, said more than 80% of Nigeria\u2019s cocoa production is still exported in raw form, despite the country\u2019s enormous processing potential.\n<\/p>\n
He noted that expanding local processing would increase export earnings, create employment opportunities, and stimulate related industries, including confectionery, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food manufacturing.<\/p>\n
The financing initiative comes as Nigeria\u2019s cocoa industry continues to recover from significant price volatility. Earlier this year, cocoa farmers in Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti states reported that cocoa prices had fallen by more than 70% from the record highs recorded during the 2024 boom, leaving many producers struggling with reduced incomes and mounting debts.\n<\/p>\n
Although global cocoa prices dropped sharply from nearly $11,000 per metric tonne in 2025 to about $4,197 per tonneby February 2026, the market has recently shown signs of recovery. Prices rose by around 24% in May, climbing above $4,400 per tonne and renewing optimism that stronger domestic processing can help shield Nigerian farmers and processors from future fluctuations in international commodity prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bank of Industry (BOI) has launched an \u20ac85 million long-term financing facility to expand local cocoa processing,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21387],"tags":[2582,12926,27239,25818,13611,1664,1915,1700,27116,27695,4156,36818,2505,20677,25114],"class_list":["post-83439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-standard-chartered","tag-africa","tag-business-growth","tag-cross-border-trade","tag-economic-development","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-export","tag-financial-services","tag-global-markets","tag-international-trade","tag-msmes","tag-nigeria","tag-non-oil-exports","tag-smes","tag-standard-chartered","tag-trade-finance"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116923611497915412","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}