Agro-investor calls to revive Nigeria’s economy through cocoa value chain

As Nigeria’s economy faces rising inflation, agro-investor and managing director of Cultivate Africa, Dr Dominic Joshua, has issued a call to action aimed at leveraging the cocoa value chain to revive the region’s economy 

According to Dr Joshua, Nigeria continues to export raw cocoa beans while forfeiting billions in potential revenue that could be gained from local processing and finished goods export. He envisions a transformation where at least 50% of cocoa production is processed locally, creating thousands of jobs, generating stable forex, and revitalising rural economies.

Given its vast and largely untapped economic potential, Nigeria’s cocoa value chain could act as a core pillar of Nigeria’s non-oil exports. Dr Joshua emphasised that developing agro-industrial clusters and ensuring access to credit for smallholder farmers would make this possible. 

Moreover, youth entrepreneurs have expressed a growing interest in agribusiness. However, access to mentorship, funding, and infrastructure remains limited. To address this, Dr Joshua has advocated for a public-private partnership model, wherein the government provides infrastructure and enabling environments, while private investors focus on innovation, scale, and export competitiveness. 

In a recent thought leadership piece, Dr Joshua outlined the following four policy actions that could unlock this transformation:

• Streamlining export regulations to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies.
• Creating agribusiness-specific funds offering low-interest loans.
• Providing technical training across the cocoa value chain.
• Launching awareness campaigns to promote agribusiness among youth.

“Agribusiness is not a fallback. It is Nigeria’s future,” Dr Joshua stated. “If the nation invests in what it grows and processes what it produces, it can transform cocoa from a forgotten commodity into a currency of sustainable prosperity.”