BOI to Channel 70% of €85m Facility into Cocoa, Dairy Value Addition

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L-R: Ayo Sotinrin, MD/CEO, Bank of Agriculture; Massimo De-Luca, Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Olasupo Olusi, MD/CEO, Bank of Industry (BoI); Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security; John Owan Enoh, Minister of state for Industry and Investment, and Dennis Idahosa, Deputy Governor, Edo State during the Africa Cocoa Value Addition Summit, with the theme "From Bean to Brand" held in Abuja.


The Bank of Industry (BOI) has secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy value addition drive, with about 70 per cent of the broader €85 million financing package earmarked for the two sectors.


BOI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, disclosed this at the Africa Cocoa Summit in Abuja, where African cocoa-producing countries signed the Abuja Declaration establishing the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance (CVAA).


The summit, themed “From Bean to Brand”, was organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and attracted participants from Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.


Olusi said the €60 million facility forms part of the €85 million EIB–BOI agreement backed by the European Union under its Global Gateway initiative.


“Approximately 70 per cent of the €85 million financing facility will be channelled to Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy sectors, which BOI considers among the industries with the greatest potential to create jobs and retain foreign exchange earnings,” he said.


According to him, BOI will prioritise funding for processors, cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises involved in local value addition rather than traders exporting raw cocoa beans.


“The era of celebrating volume of raw exports must end. Nigeria loses billions by shipping beans and importing finished chocolate. Our goal is to create factories around cocoa communities so that value, jobs and taxes remain in Nigeria,” Olusi added.


He said the bank would complement financing with technical assistance on compliance, climate standards and access to the European market, including support for meeting the EU Deforestation Regulation.


Olusi revealed that BOI disbursed more than ₦164 billion in 2025 to over 3,500 agro and food-processing businesses, linking nearly 48,000 smallholder farmers to industrial value chains.


President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, called for a decisive shift from exporting raw cocoa beans to processing and manufacturing finished products locally.


“Although Africa accounts for about 70 per cent of global cocoa production, the continent retains only six cents of every dollar generated by the global chocolate industry,” the President said.


“He disclosed that investors are developing a 70,000-tonne cocoa processing facility in Shagamu, Ogun State, while Nigeria’s cocoa grinding capacity has exceeded 120,000 tonnes annually.


The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s target of building a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030 through greater value addition, manufacturing incentives and expanded market access under the African Continental Free Trade Area.


Her counterpart, Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said the newly formed Cocoa Value Addition Alliance would strengthen regional cooperation among countries that collectively produce about 75 per cent of the world’s cocoa.


Ghana Cocoa Board Chief Executive, Dr. Ransford Abbey, urged African nations to deepen domestic processing.


“We must shift the paradigm from exporting raw poverty to creating refined wealth right here on the African continent,” Abbey said.


The Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Massimo De Luca, reaffirmed the EU’s support for cocoa value addition and called on participating governments to provide the regulatory framework needed for the initiative to succeed.

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