• Robust International plans to build a new cashew processing plant in Ogun State, Nigeria.

• The project will raise the company’s total processing capacity to 220 tonnes per day, from 100 tonnes currently.

• GuarantCo provided a $75 million debt facility to finance the project.

In Nigeria, Singapore-based agricultural commodities trader Robust International plans to build a new cashew processing facility in Ogun State. In a statement published on its website on February 5, the company said the project would allow it to more than double its total cashew processing capacity in the country.

Once operational, the new facility will raise Robust International’s total cashew processing capacity in Nigeria to 220 tonnes per day, compared with 100 tonnes per day currently, company executives said.

To finance the project, the Singaporean company said it secured a $75 million debt facility from GuarantCo, a financial institution specializing in credit guarantees.

For now, the company has not disclosed the project’s start date or construction timeline. Nevertheless, the agro-industrial investment will accelerate local cashew processing and create a new commercial outlet for Nigerian farmers.

“The new facility will deliver significant benefits to the local economy, notably through the sourcing of cashew nuts from around 10,000 small-scale producers, most of whom earn low incomes,” the statement said. “The plant will also include infrastructure to convert production residues into biomass and biofuels, thereby strengthening the project’s environmental impact.”

Despite such initiatives, Nigeria’s cashew processing segment continues to face structural challenges. According to preliminary estimates from independent agribusiness advisory firm N’kalô, published in an African cashew market bulletin on February 3, cashew processing volumes in Nigeria fell by 17% to 50,000 tonnes in 2025.

By contrast, cashew nut supply in the Nigerian market rose by 16% to 405,000 tonnes over the same period.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum