Economy
Sunbeth Exports 52,000 tonnes of Cocoa Out of Nigeria in 2025
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the largest cocoa players in Nigeria, Sunbeth Global Concepts, which recently launched a N200 billion commercial paper programme, said it exported about 52,000 tonnes of cocoa out of the country in 2025.
The firm’s chief executive, Mr Olasunkanmi Owoyemi, in an interview with CNN, said the growth has been impressive despite the challenges of operating in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
“Last year, we did around 52,000 tonnes of cocoa export out of Nigeria. And I mean that I remember when I started this business, when I bought 200 tonnes, I felt as though we are doing something great, but within eight years of doing 50,000 tonnes in over 50,000 tonnes in cocoa alone showed how much we’ve grown, how much people we’ve brought in, how much people have been able to contribute to our progress,” he said on CNN Marketplace hosted by Ms Zain Asher.
The latest edition of the programme focuses on the country’s agricultural sector, especially how the players have been navigating the challenges.
Mr Owoyemi said one of the major challenges of operating in Nigeria’s agricultural sector is “getting people to move back to the productive sector.”
“For us as a business, our vision is to empower the origin producers of food ingredients, products with the financing structure, logistics, markets, and education and technology. It’s a massive challenge and needs a massive scale of financing, massive scale of research, and technology.
“This challenge being resolved alone can turn us easily from just producing to processing, consuming, and exporting the refined products and to enable intra-African trades to be a model for the world,” he noted.
Speaking on the importance of investing in future talent, he said, “The Sunbeth Excellence Partnership programme we use to reward and celebrate the best graduating students in the local universities in Nigeria, which involves cash gift and we integrate them into our system and take them to put them into expose them globally by taking them into courses, like executive programmes in one of the best universities in the world to let them understand it.”
For the Operations Manager of Rural Farmers Hub, Nanshal Silas, maintaining healthy soil is a challenge for an increasing number of farmers worldwide as agricultural demand continues to grow.
“Most times, farmers have a very big challenge. And this challenge is not far from their inability to understand what is happening in the soil. First of all, for a farmer to grow crops and to maximise profit, he or she must have in-depth knowledge,” Silas stated.
An Extensionist at the agri-tech company, Aishatu Shuaibu, said Rural Farmers Hub helps farmers with soil testing.
“I get to search for local farmers within communities. Then I take their soil coordinates. After taking the soil coordinates to know what they need in their soils, I guide them on what to apply, the fertiliser that is needed and the major procedure that is supposed to be taken for them to have a bountiful harvest,” Ms Shuaibu said.
An Agricultural Biotechnologist at Sheda Science and Technology Complex in Abuja, Dr Andrew Iloh, told CNN that, “One of the biggest challenges for every kind of technology is adaptation. Not just bringing the technology, but every other thing needs to work hand in hand so that agricultural productivity in Nigeria can be improved.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is seeking to raise about $1 billion through a private placement that values the company at $39.1 billion.
According to reports, the refinery is offering 3 billion ordinary shares at $0.35 per share. Investors must subscribe for at least 1 million shares, equal to $350,000, with additional subscriptions accepted in multiples of 500,000 shares. The shares will be subject to a 365-day lock-up period from allotment.
It was reported that demand for the offer has already exceeded $2 billion, suggesting that the placement may be oversubscribed.
The operation is already attracting the interest of local investors. Recall that Nigerian billionaire, Mr Femi Otedola, has committed $100 million, while Afrobeats superstar, Mr David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, also announced he would participate.
The proceeds will be used for expansion projects and general corporate purposes as the refinery deepens its role in Nigeria’s fuel supply market.
The facility has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and began fuel production in 2024. It produces diesel, aviation fuel, naphtha and premium motor spirit.
Standard Bank Group has also said it plans to play a leading role in the refinery’s future public listing, after the facility completed test runs at 700,000 barrels per day. It aims to reach 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028.
The fundraising is likely to renew expectations of a future public listing with a major stakeholder, Mr Aliko Dangote, saying the refinery could be listed, though no timeline was disclosed in the memorandum.
The current placement is seen as an early step that could expand ownership ahead of any future initial public offering (IPO).
Mr Dangote plans to sell between 5 and 10 per cent of the refinery on five major African exchanges: the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the BRVM, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
It has appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital, Vetiva Capital Management and FirstCap to lead the planned initial public offering of its refinery business on the Nigerian Exchange.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange entered a third straight day of losses after it fell by 0.12 per cent on Wednesday, June 10.
The depletion trimmed the market capitalisation further by N3.1 billion to N2.590 trillion from N2.593 trillion, and cut the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 5.19 points to 4330.12 points from 4,335.31 points.
11 Plc lost N22.21 during the session to finish at N221.00 per share versus the previous day’s N243.21 per share, MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N6.90 to N158.10 per unit from N165.00 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc decreased by N2.81 to N78.32 per share from N81.13 per share.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went up by N9.27 to N183.08 per unit from N173.81 per unit, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc added N1.92 to its value to close at N23.80 per share compared with the preceding day’s N21.88 per share, and Food Concepts Plc gained 10 Kobo to exchange at N2.58 per unit, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N2.48 per unit.
At the close of business, the volume of securities traded by investors contracted by 92.6 per cent to 117,374 units from 1.6 million units, and the value of securities moderated by 80.5 per cent to N12.2 million from N62.3 million, while the number of deals increased by 4.9 per cent to 43 deals from 41 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc finished the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 65.2 million units exchanged for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira fell against the United States Dollar by N1.50 or 0.11 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to sell at N1,362.05/$1 on Wednesday, June 10, compared with the N1,360.55/$1 it traded on Tuesday.
Also, the local currency lost N4.33 against the Pound Sterling in the official window yesterday to trade at N1,827.33/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,823.00/£1, and depreciated against the Euro by N1.74 to quote at N1,575.35/€1, in contrast to N1,573.61/€1 of the previous session.
However, at the GTBank forex desk, the Naira gained N3 against the US Dollar to sell at N1,370/$1 versus N1,373/$1, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,380/$1.
Updated data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that foreign reserves surged further due to additional inflows from various sources. Nigeria’s gross external reserves increased to $50.439 billion, its highest level since March 2026, reflecting sustained inflows from oil revenue and other FX sources.
Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said increased confidence in the Naira, supported by lower and more stable inflation, would encourage households, businesses and investors to hold more local currency assets and reduce reliance on foreign currencies.
The global lender, in a recent assessment, stressed the importance of strengthening the CBN’s operational framework and aligning liquidity management operations more closely with monetary policy objectives.
In the cryptocurrency market, there were recoveries from recent losses as US headline inflation rose an expected 0.5 per cent in May, but the beat on the core rate — which cuts out food and energy costs — pleased markets. The core rate, though, rose just 0.2 per cent in May against forecasts for 0.3 per cent.
The print reinforces the view that the US Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at 350-375 basis points at its June 17 meeting, but is likely to increase rates by 25 basis points by the end of the year.
Cardano (ADA) went up by 2.4 per cent to $0.1647, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 2.3 per cent to $62,794.09, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.8 per cent to $596.23, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 1.7 per cent to $1,658.12, and Solana (SOL) also soared by 1.7 per cent to $65.23.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $0.0849, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 0.4 per cent to $1.11, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.05 per cent to $0.3218, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) lost 0.10 per cent to close at $0.9989, and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) declined by 0.01 per cent to $0.9997.
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