KEY POINTS
- Sunbeth Global Concepts will commission a 70,000-tonne cocoa plant and 80,000-tonne cashew facility in March 2027.
- Managing Director Olasunkanmi Owoyemi unveiled the plan at the Africa Cocoa Finance and Investment Forum at the London Stock Exchange.
- The dual investment marks Sunbeth’s pivot from cocoa trader to integrated processor across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.
Olasunkanmi Owoyemi’s Sunbeth Global Concepts will commission a 70,000-tonne cocoa processing plant and an 80,000-tonne cashew processing facility in March 2027, marking the agro-commodity exporter’s most ambitious push yet from trading into industrial-scale processing.
Owoyemi, managing director of one of Nigeria’s largest cocoa exporters, unveiled the dual investment at the Africa Cocoa Finance and Investment Forum at the London Stock Exchange. Both facilities are already under construction.
Now Sunbeth’s pivot positions it to capture a slice of value Nigeria’s cocoa sector has long shipped abroad, with implications for jobs, foreign exchange and the country’s standing in global processed-cocoa markets.
From trader to processor
Specifically, Owoyemi framed the move as the next phase of a corporate journey that has taken Sunbeth from a domestic trading operation less than a decade ago to one of Africa’s foremost cocoa exporters. The company says world-class ambition demands world-class infrastructure, and that purpose-built plants beat retrofits.
Indeed, Owoyemi told the forum that processing scale only works alongside a deeper supply chain. He said vertical integration sits at the heart of Sunbeth’s plan.
“Scaling in this industry demands far more than capacity expansion. A 70,000-metric tonne cocoa processing plant is only as viable as the supply chain that sustains it,” Owoyemi said. “Vertical integration is not optional; it is the foundation of a business built to last.”
Moreover, the managing director said the company will cultivate crops to feed its plants and invest in farmer training, technology, financing and logistics to lift yields and quality.
Today, Sunbeth operates across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, three of West Africa’s leading cocoa-producing countries. Additionally, the company has built offices in London, Dubai and New York to anchor its access to global markets, talent and trade finance.
Together, that footprint gives Sunbeth the geographic spread to feed both plants from multiple origins, hedging exposure to weather, disease and policy shocks in any single jurisdiction.
Orange Cocoa framework
Furthermore, the processing plants tie into Sunbeth’s Orange Cocoa Sustainability Framework, an in-house program covering quality control, farmer training and partnership-driven yield improvement. The company says the framework is the operational backbone of the processing strategy.
Meanwhile, the cocoa facility will reinforce Nigeria’s position in the global cocoa processing landscape, while the cashew plant will serve growing demand across West Africa and supply premium export markets in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The new capacity arrives at a moment when global cocoa prices have surged on West African supply pressures, leaving processors squeezed and farmers underpaid. However, Sunbeth’s bet is that vertically integrated, sustainability-led production can ride out price cycles better than pure-trade plays.
Notably, the cashew plant will tap into rising consumer demand for tree nuts in North America and Europe, where buyers increasingly prize traceable, ethically sourced supply.
Looking to 2050
Owoyemi said the plant launches sit within a longer 2050 horizon in which Africa not only produces the majority of the world’s cocoa and cashew, but also processes, trades and captures the full economic benefit of the commodities.
Whether Sunbeth can execute on the timeline and supply-chain promises will determine whether the announcement marks a turning point or another aspirational pledge. Yet for now, Owoyemi’s plant blueprint joins a small but growing list of African agro-businesses moving from raw exports to finished products.
