• Johnvents launches ₦100B commercial paper to boost cocoa output
• Funds to support working capital, exports amid harvest downturn
• Nigeria's cocoa yield forecasted to drop 11% in 2025/26 season
  

Johnvents Industries Limited, a Nigerian agribusiness specializing in cocoa processing, has launched a commercial paper issuance to raise 100 billion naira ($68.3 million) on the financial market. The offer runs from October 17 through October 24.

Commercial paper consists of short-term debt instruments that a company offers to investors to rapidly mobilize liquidity. Local media reported that Johnvents has committed to repaying investors within 270 days with an implied annualized return of approximately 23%.

This financing mechanism allows companies to raise funds directly from investors within days, bypassing the lengthy procedures and collateral often required for traditional bank loans.

In a statement quoted by AgroNigeria, John Alamu, Managing Director of Johnvents, said the funding will be used to strengthen the company’s working capital, increase production capacity, and boost exports from its processing unit located in Ondo State.

The company's urgent need for financing comes amid a pessimistic outlook for the upcoming cocoa harvest. Although Nigeria’s 2025/2026 cocoa season has not officially begun, early market forecasts project an 11% drop in production, settling at 305,000 tons, according to independent trade advisory service N'kalo.

This push for capital follows a February announcement where Johnvents stated its intention to double its cocoa processing capacity to over 30,000 tons per year, backed by $40.5 million in funding secured from British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution.

The strategic challenge for Johnvents to secure its raw material supply is heightened by the fact that nearly 80% of Nigeria’s annual cocoa harvest is exported abroad in its raw form.

Stéphanas Assocle