The Bank of Industry (BOI) has secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to accelerate cocoa value addition in Nigeria, with the funding targeted at strengthening local processing, ingredient manufacturing, packaging and chocolate production.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BOI, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, announced the development on Tuesday during the Cocoa Value Addition Summit in Abuja, themed “From Bean to Brand.”
Olusi said the facility forms part of the bank’s broader strategy to mobilise blended and concessional financing for Nigeria’s cocoa industry while addressing the high cost of capital that has long constrained local processors.
“An example of this is the €60 million credit facility we received from the European Investment Bank to develop the cocoa sector,” he said.
“This will help Nigerian processors compete more fairly with multinationals that have access to cheaper finance.”
He disclosed that the bank would establish dedicated financing windows for cocoa processing, ingredient manufacturing, packaging and chocolate production to stimulate industrial growth across the value chain.
According to him, BOI is also considering the establishment of a Cocoa Value Addition Park within Nigeria’s cocoa-producing region.
The proposed industrial hub will feature shared processing facilities, quality control 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.
“Our goal is to finance everything from nurseries and cooperatives to grinding plants, ingredient factories, packaging lines and chocolate manufacturers.”
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The BOI chief noted that financing models for the cocoa sector must reflect the industry’s unique production cycle, explaining that cocoa replanting requires grace periods of between three and five years, while processing facilities need long-term financing spanning seven to 10 years—support that commercial banks rarely provide.
Olusi further revealed that BOI disbursed more than ₦164 billion to over 3,500 agro-processing and food businesses in 2025, supporting factories, mills, cold chain infrastructure and packhouses while integrating nearly 48,000 smallholder farmers into industrial value chains.
He observed that although Nigeria produces more than 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa annually, its effective grinding capacity remains at only about 50,000 metric tonnes, limiting the country’s earnings from the global cocoa market.
According to him, increasing domestic processing capacity could raise Nigeria’s export value by between two and four times, while creating employment opportunities and reducing dependence on raw bean exports.
“The 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.
“For at the Bank of Industry, we hold to a simple conviction: we are not in the business of financing commodities. We are in the business of financing value creation.”
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chris Isokpunwu, represented by the ministry’s Director of Industrial Development, Mohammed Bala, said more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa is still exported as raw beans despite the country’s significant processing potential.
He said expanding local processing would enhance export earnings, generate employment and stimulate downstream industries, including confectionery, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Ransford Abbey, urged African cocoa-producing countries to prioritise local processing, noting that while Africa accounts for about 75 per cent of global cocoa production, the continent earns less than 10 per cent of the value generated by the global chocolate industry.
“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.
The European Union representative, Massino Deluko, reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to supporting cocoa value addition across Africa and called on governments to strengthen policy and regulatory frameworks capable of attracting greater investment into the sector.