Africa can process what it grows. Here is how we’re building it.

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Read History Go to My Account Log Out Enhanced by Google Opinion Africa can process what it grows. Here is how we’re building it. Africa’s agribusiness conversation is changing. For years, the question was whether the continent should process more of what it grows.

Listen to this article Share Africa’s agribusiness conversation is changing. For years, the question was whether the continent should process more of what it grows.

That question is largely settled. The question now is who can process competitively, at scale, for international buyers who source from established hubs. West and Central Africa grow a large share of the world’s cocoa, cashew, sesame and other export crops, yet most of it still leaves the region raw.

Africa produces about 70 percent of the world’s cocoa but accounts for less than a quarter of global grinding, and it grows around 60 percent of the world’s raw cashew nuts, most of which are shipped to Asia for processing.

Across the continent, 46 of 54 countries still earn more than 60 percent of their export revenue from unprocessed commodities. The picture is starting to shift: West Africa processed about 732,000 tonnes of cashew in 2025, 51 percent more than the year before, with Côte d’Ivoire leading the way.

At Sunbeth Global Concepts, we are building a company that sources, trades, processes and exports agricultural commodities from four countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. Since 2017, our exports have included more than 200,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans and 60,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts, alongside sesame, soybeans and other agricultural commodities. Processing is the next step, and it builds on that foundation.

Our first processing plants, a 70,000-tonne cocoa factory and an 80,000-tonne cashew plant in Sagamu, Ogun State, are scheduled for commissioning in March 2027. They are the first stage of a processing footprint designed to draw on all four of our origins.

For an export company, this is a deliberate expansion. We know these crops, the farmers who grow them and the buyers who want them, and processing lets us offer those buyers more. As the team delivering these plants, we have a practical view of what makes local processing competitive. It comes down to five things.

A processing plant is only as productive as the raw material it receives. Processors that compete well treat farmer relationships as part of the plant’s design. We work directly with more than 30,000 farmers and a network of local buying agents across the countries where we operate. Through our sustainability programmes, including the Orange Cocoa Sustainability Framework, we invest in farmer training, quality improvement and partnerships. Because the same sourcing network serves both our export business and our plants, we can plan supply across both.

Operating across four countries gives buyers a single, accountable partner for several origins and several crops, and it gives us the ability to plan supply, trade and shipping across markets rather than one at a time. Crops, seasons and volumes vary by country, and a network that spans several origins can feed processing plants more steadily than any single market can. It is also a bet on Africa trading with Africa.

In Ghana, we became the first Nigerian company in decades to receive a licence from the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Company to buy cocoa directly. Processing deepens that offer. The plants add finished products to a network that already moves raw commodities between origins and the world’s buyers.

Reliability is what international buyers value most in a supplier: shipments that leave on schedule, product that meets specification, and documentation that is right the first time. We are carrying that discipline into every plant we build.

Our facilities are new and purpose-built, with power, production flow and quality control planned together from the design stage, so each one can run consistently from its first day.

Export-grade products demand precise control of moisture, temperature and hygiene. The machinery matters, but the people who run it matter more. Engineers, quality managers, maintenance technicians and logistics professionals are the backbone of any competitive plant. Developing that workforce, much of it young and African, is as important to us as installing the equipment.

Processing pays only if the product meets the requirements of international customers, and each crop carries its own: deforestation rules for cocoa, residue and aflatoxin limits for nuts and seeds, and traceability for all of them. One of the most significant is the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation.

From 30 December 2026, large and medium-sized companies placing covered commodities, including cocoa, on the EU market must show they are deforestation-free.

Smaller businesses follow on 30 June 2027. Exporters already work to these standards every day. We supply global buyers including Cargill, Touton and StoneX, and that experience goes straight into how our plants will source, document and deliver. None of these factors stands alone. A plant has to get all five right together. Africa can do this.

The continent has the crops, the farmers and a growing base of companies ready to invest. What will make the difference is coordination among processors, farmers, financiers and governments, so that each new project builds on the last.

What we are building in Sagamu is the first stage of a larger build across our four markets. The measure of success will be whether the factories run at capacity, farmers are paid fairly and African products earn their place on international shelves. That is the standard we intend to be held to.

Sefunmi Fadahunsi, head of Projects & Program Management Office, Sunbeth Global Concepts