BoI Secures €60m Facility for Cocoa Growth
Bank of Industry secures European funding to boost Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy processing sectors through local value addition.
Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BoI) has secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank to support the country’s cocoa and dairy value addition efforts. The funding will help expand cocoa processing, ingredients production and chocolate manufacturing in Nigeria.
BoI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Olasupo Olusi, announced the development at the Africa Cocoa Summit held in Abuja on 14 July. The event, organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, focused on moving Africa away from exporting raw cocoa beans towards local processing, branding and stronger market value.
The summit, also called the Cocoa Value Addition Summit, carried the theme “From Bean to Brand.” Industry leaders from Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon attended the gathering and signed the Abuja Declaration, which created the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance (CVAA).
Olusi explained that the €60 million credit facility forms part of an €85 million EIB–BoI facility supported by the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative. The investment aims to strengthen key areas of Nigeria’s agricultural economy, including food processing and manufacturing.
The €60 million credit facility represents a major step towards building a stronger cocoa value chain and helping local businesses produce finished goods instead of relying on raw exports.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by Agriculture and Food Security Minister Senator Abubakar Kyari, called for a major change in Africa’s approach to cocoa production. He urged cocoa-producing nations to focus on value addition and secure a greater share of the global chocolate industry’s wealth.
