The processing of raw cocoa into finished products like chocolate has been identified as the most lucrative path for boosting Nigeria’s export earnings.
According to a major cocoa industry player, John Alamu, the value-adding approach has the potential to enormously increase the country’s agricultural commodity revenues.
Alamu, who is the founder and group managing director of CapitalSage Holdings, revealed that though an exporter of raw cocoa makes about $8,000 per tonne, the value of the commodity increases dramatically when it is processed into finished goods.
While disclosing that the philosophy has been the driving force of the group’s evolution into a fully integrated value chain company, Alamu stated that it has become one of the leading supply chain participants and processors of sesame, cocoa, legumes, cashews, soya, edible nuts, rice and rubber, boasting millions of dollars in annual revenue.
He said: “Export raw cocoa and you make $8,000 per tonne. Turn it into butter and you earn six times more. Make chocolate, and the value rises up to 30 times.”
Alamu further stressed that with 10 factories, including Johnvents Industries and Premium Cocoa Products, one of Nigeria’s oldest cocoa plants, the Group possesses the capacity to process up to 48,000 MT of cocoa annually for export to Europe, Asia, and America.
Stressing that the conglomerate was started with a sum of N100,000 in 2014, he explained that its cocoa unit anchors global exports of butter, liquor, cake, and powder, while the sesame and legumes unit sources and supplies premium-grade sesame, soya, and grains from multiple origins across Africa and beyond.
According to him, cashews and edible nuts add further diversity to the company, expanding Africa’s presence in the global nut value chain.
“We started with N100,000; today, we’re building global businesses from Africa. The next struggle, like independence, is economic freedom.” That requires courage, disruption, and African confidence.
“Today, CapitalSage Holdings employs over 2,000 people directly and supports more than 10,000 farmers, operating across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.”
