The Bank of Industry (BOI) has secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to strengthen cocoa value addition in Nigeria, with funding aimed at expanding processing, ingredient manufacturing, packaging and chocolate production.
Speaking at the Cocoa Value Addition Summit in Abuja on Tuesday, themed ‘From Bean to Brand’, BOI Managing Director Olasupo Olusi said the facility forms part of the bank’s strategy to mobilise blended and concessional financing for the cocoa industry while addressing the high cost of capital faced by local processors.
He said the funding would help Nigerian processors compete more effectively with multinational firms that enjoy access to cheaper financing.
Olusi disclosed that BOI plans to establish dedicated financing windows covering cocoa processing, ingredient manufacturing, packaging and chocolate production.
He also revealed that the bank is exploring the establishment of a Cocoa Value Addition Park in Nigeria’s cocoa-producing region. The proposed hub will feature shared processing facilities, quality laboratories, reliable electricity, effluent treatment systems and digital traceability infrastructure.
“We are not approaching cocoa as a lending programme; we are building an industrial ecosystem,” Olusi said.
He added that BOI’s goal is to finance every stage of the cocoa value chain, from nurseries and cooperatives to grinding plants, ingredient factories, packaging lines and chocolate manufacturers.
According to him, financing models must reflect the realities of the cocoa sector, where replanting requires a grace period of three to five years, while processing facilities need long-term funding of seven to 10 years that commercial banks rarely provide.
Olusi further disclosed that BOI disbursed more than N164 billion to over 3,500 agro-processing and food businesses in 2025. The funding supported factories, mills, packhouses and cold-chain projects while integrating nearly 48,000 smallholder farmers into industrial value chains.
Although Nigeria produces more than 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa annually, he noted that the country’s effective grinding capacity remains only about 50,000 tonnes.
He said increasing local processing could multiply Nigeria’s export earnings from cocoa by between two and four times, while creating jobs and reducing dependence on raw bean exports.
“Our goal is industrialisation, import substitution through local cocoa powder production, export promotion of butter and liquor to ECOWAS and the Gulf, and job creation for young Nigerians,” he said.
Speaking at the summit, Chris Isokpunwu, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, represented by Mohammed Bala, Director of Industrial Development, said more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa is still exported as raw beans despite its vast processing potential.
He said expanding domestic processing would increase export earnings, create employment and stimulate downstream industries, including confectionery, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Also addressing participants, Ransford Abbey, Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), urged African cocoa-producing countries to process more of their cocoa locally.
He noted that although Africa produces about 75 per cent of the world’s cocoa, it earns less than 10 per cent of the global chocolate industry’s value.
“This system cannot continue. We must shift the paradigm from exporting raw poverty to creating refined wealth right here on the African continent,” Abbey said.
Representing the European Union, Massino Deluko reaffirmed the bloc’s support for cocoa value addition and called on governments to provide the policy and regulatory environment needed to attract greater investment into the sector.
