Nigeria and other West African cocoa-producing countries have attracted more than 500 million dollars in disclosed investment and financing commitments since January 2025, as governments and private investors seek to boost local processing and increase value addition.
The commitments cover industrial expansion, commodity procurement, trade finance and working-capital facilities across Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
In Nigeria, British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, provided 40.5 million dollars in financing to Johnvents Group in February 2025.
The funding supports the expansion and refurbishment of Premium Cocoa Products’ processing facility in Ile-Oluji, Ondo State, increasing its annual capacity from 13,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes.
The investment is also expected to support local farmers and advance Johnvents’ target of achieving full cocoa traceability by 2027.
Nigeria’s cocoa-processing capacity is set for further expansion, with Sunbeth Global Concepts developing a 70,000-tonne-per-year cocoa-processing plant in Sagamu, Ogun State. The project, alongside an 80,000-tonne cashew-processing facility, was reported to be under construction, with commissioning scheduled for March 2027.
The Bank of Industry (BOI) is also supporting the development of local agro-processing industries. In July 2026, it disclosed a 60-million-euro credit facility from the European Investment Bank to support Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy value chains, including processing, packaging, ingredient production and chocolate manufacturing.
Separately, BOI reported disbursing more than 164 billion naira to over 3,500 agro-processing and food businesses in 2025, linking nearly 48,000 smallholder farmers to industrial value chains.
However, the disclosed commitments differ in scope, with some representing direct industrial investments and others involving loans, guarantees and seasonal financing for commodity purchases.
