Nigeria's Bank of Industry secures €60m EIB loan for cocoa and dairy value addition

The Bank of Industry (BOI) obtained a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank, part of an €85 million programme backed by the European Union under its Global Gateway initiative. About 70 % of the funding is earmarked for Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy sectors to support processing, ingredient production and chocolate manufacturing, aiming to create factories, jobs and retain foreign‑exchange earnings.

The facility was announced at the Africa Cocoa Value Addition Summit in Abuja on 14 July, attended by officials from Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, who signed the Abuja Declaration establishing a Cocoa Value Addition Alliance. President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Agriculture, highlighted the need to shift from exporting raw beans to local value‑addition. BOI will complement loans with technical assistance on compliance, climate standards and EU market access, and will help farmers meet the EU Deforestation Regulation. In 2025 BOI disbursed over ₦164 billion to more than 3,500 agro‑food businesses, linking nearly 48 000 smallholder farmers into industrial value chains.