BoI to channel 70% of EIB facility to drive cocoa, dairy sectors

By Etop Ekanem

Nigeria’s foremost development finance institution, Bank of Industry (BoI) has secured a 60 million euro credit facility from the European Investment Bank to fund Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy value addition drive, with a focus on processing, ingredients and chocolate manufacturing.

Managing Director/CEO of BoI, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, disclosed this during the Africa Cocoa Summit convened in Abuja on July 14 by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment with the aim of transitioning Africa from exporting raw beans to local processing and branding.

Also known as the Cocoa Value Addition Summit with the theme: “From Bean to Brand,” it was attended by leaders and stakeholders from Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, who signed the Abuja Declaration to establish the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance (CVAA).

According to Olusi, the 60 million euro forms part of the 85 million euro EIB–BoI facility, backed by the European Union under the Global Gateway initiative, and designed specifically to strengthen these critical sectors in Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, called for a decisive shift from Africa’s long-standing dependence on exporting raw cocoa beans, urging producing countries to prioritise value addition and capture a larger share of the global chocolate industry’s wealth.

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