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John Alamu, the founder of Johnvents Industries Ltd., has again turned to Nigeria’s capital markets as he scales up the country’s fledgling cocoa-processing industry.
Alamu launched the company’s Series 20 commercial paper this month as part of a broader ₦100 billion ($67.5 million) programme, offering a 270-day note that carries a headline implied yield of about 23% a year. The short-term borrowing — which opened October 17 and closes October 24 — is intended to fund working capital as Johnvents ramps production at its processing facilities in Ondo State and expands exports.
Alamu’s trajectory from an agribusiness aggregator to the head of one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing processors has been swift. He began sourcing beans from smallholders, financing harvests and selling on raw cocoa, then shifted toward value addition — turning beans into butter, liquor and cake that command higher prices overseas. Johnvents now operates a major processing plant in Ondo and maintains trading links in the UAE and parts of Asia.
The company’s expansion has drawn major backing from development finance institutions, which have poured in capital in recent years to boost processing capacity and bring operations in line with international standards. That support has come as revenue climbed from about ₦59 billion ($39.9 million) in 2022 to more than ₦230 billion ($155.4 million) in 2024. Johnvents holds a BBB+ credit rating from three Nigerian agencies, and company officials point to its record of meeting debt obligations as proof of strong financial discipline and stable operations.
Nigeria’s wider cocoa trade has seen renewed momentum, with exporters reporting sharp gains recently. For Alamu, the commercial paper is one piece of a strategy to convert that opportunity into sustained industrial output. “Local processing keeps more value here, creates jobs, and stabilises foreign-exchange earnings,” he said in a recent interview.
The move is familiar for maturing agribusinesses: use short-term market instruments to bridge cyclical funding needs while preserving access to longer-term project finance.
