Economy
OH Ecosystems Secures $12m After Acquiring Stake in FTN Cocoa
By Dipo Olowookere
A Nigerian cocoa processing company, OH Ecosystems Limited, has received $12 million in investments from Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries.
The funding package will allow OH Ecosystems to expand its operations and create more jobs in Nigeria while contributing to addressing some of the challenges in the cocoa value chain.
Business Post gathered that the funds would be specifically used to resuscitate the underutilised FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, a company listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
OH Ecosystems recently acquired a majority stake in FTN Cocoa, adding to its chain of cocoa processing and confectionery businesses on the African continent.
With 20,000 metric tons of installed capacity, FTN Cocoa transforms cocoa beans into semi-finished products (cocoa liquor, butter and powder) for commercialisation to global and local clients.
The $12 million investment from Norfund is expected to be used to upgrade FTN Cocoa’s operating facilities and extend its reach to produce and sell additional products into the cocoa supply chain.
OH Ecosystems is supported by established leaders in the global cocoa chain, including Niche Cocoa Industry Ltd, Africa’s largest indigenous cocoa processor, who will serve as a technical partner.
At 4 million metric tons per year, West Africa produces more than 75 per cent of the world’s cocoa.
In 2021 Nigeria produced 290,000MTs, ranking 4th behind Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Cameroon. Unfortunately, more than 70 per cent of West Africa’s cocoa is exported as raw material with no significant value addition.
Norfund’s investment directly supports the increase of local value-added transformation leading to quality job creation, local tax revenues, and foreign exchange for West Africa’s cocoa-producing countries.
The investment furthers Norfund’s strategy to help create sustainable, scalable businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa that promote value addition at the origin.
“Increasing the share of raw materials that are processed locally can create a large number of jobs that give the fast-growing population of Nigeria the opportunity to work their way out of poverty, and we are confident that this investment can contribute to this,” an Investment Manager at Norfund, Obafemi Awobokun, said.
“We are thankful for Norfund’s partnership as we focus on building out value-add production in Nigeria. Having partners who are aligned over the long-term on both the financial and social impact of our work is extremely important.
“Together, we can contribute to Nigeria’s agricultural manufacturing with a focus on financial sustainability for farmers in the value chain,” the Managing Director of OH Ecosystems, Mr Nathaniel Durant, stated.
“This is a strategic alliance come through that will help FTN Cocoa sew up her pursuit of conversion of cocoa beans, job creation, contribution to the economic diversification goals of the government, delivering value to stakeholders and actualising the vision of being a global player,” the chief executive of FTN Cocoa, Mr Akin Laoye, commented.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the paint makers in Nigeria, Premier Paints Plc, is currently in talks with a new investor, Xenergi Limited, for the purchase of 51 per cent stake in the company.
Xenergi Limited intends to acquire shares of Clover Global Resources Limited and TGHL Capital Limited in the organisation.
Business Post gathered that the new investor will buy 39.02 per cent from Clover Global Resources Limited and 15.20 per cent from TGHL Capital Limited.
The deal, according to a regulatory notice issued on Tuesday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, will involve about 63 million shares of Premier Paints.
At the current share price of the paint producer, this should be about N630 million as it closed at N10.00 per unit on NGX on December 16, 2025.
“Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close before January 31, 2026.
“The company will continue to inform the public of the progress of the transaction,” the disclosure signed by the company secretary, Alozie Nwokoro, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was flat against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 16, retaining the previous closing value of N1,451.82/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency saw no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,943.98/£1 and N1,705.74/€1, respectively.
Also, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged in the black market yesterday at N1,475/$1 and was N1,460/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened US Dollar supply with $250 million to authorised dealer banks at the official window cumulatively as foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporate supply dripped.
The spread between official and other non-regulated markets decreased to N30.59$/1 from N44.57/$1, from the previous week, research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited said in a report.
FX analysts said foreign exchange inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market decreased to $716.3 million from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.
Foreign portfolio investors accounted for the highest share of inflows at 32.98 per cent, followed by exporters at 30.84 per cent, the CBN (17.36 per cent), Non-bank Corporates (16.94 per cent), others (0.72 per cent) and Individuals (0.63 per cent).
On Monday, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), representing a decrease of 1.6 percentage points month-on-month and marks a significant moderation compared to the same period last year.
As for the cryptocurrency market, there was some recoveries after overall capitalization falling below $3 trillion for the third time in a month. Large-cap assets, particularly those with Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) exposure, are experiencing selling pressure as institutional investors reassess risk.
Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $1.92, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $78.91, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1308, Solana (SOL) went up by 0.4 per cent to $127.60, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.3 per cent to $865.40, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $86,735.17.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.3802 and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.4 per cent to $2,935.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
A marginal 0.01 per cent rise was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday. This was different from the flattish mode of the market the previous day.
Investor sentiment remained bullish as Customs Street finished with 31 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
Aluminium Extrusion topped the gainers’ log after it improved its price by 10.00 per cent to N9.35, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N263.40, Multiverse expanded by 9.95 per cent to N12.15, MeCure Industries also soared by 9.95 per cent to N45.85, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.89 per cent to N4.11.
Conversely, Haldane McCall led the losers’ chart after it shed 9.93 per cent to settle at N3.72, Veritas Kapital lost 9.09 per cent to close at N1.60, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank also declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.50, and Linkage Assurance depreciated by 5.71 per cent to N1.65.
During the trading day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 21.23 points to 149,459.11 points from the previous day’s 149,437.88 points and the market capitalisation increased by N14 billion to N95.281 trillion from N95.267 trillion.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.0 billion equities for N21.8 billion in 23,701 deals compared with the 553.1 million equities valued at N13.3 billion traded in 28,907 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 18.01 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 80.80 per cent and 63.91 per cent apiece.
Access Holdings traded 385.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 111.8 million shares valued at N817.8 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 85.5 million equities for N589.9 million, FCMB sold 74.7 million shares valued at N791.5 million, and First Holdco transacted 51.9 million equities worth N1.8 billion.
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