Nigerian billionaire Rasheed Sarumi's Presco is spending $400 million to grow palm oil in four states

Rasheed Sarumi has committed $400 million to two Nigerian states this year, bought land in a third, and spent $171.6 million acquiring plantations in Ghana and Edo State before that.

Presco, the palm oil producer he controls and runs as chief executive, told Ondo State in July it would invest an initial $200 million to build plantations, a processing mill and a refinery there. Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa said he had already made up his mind that Presco must have a place in the state and would find land that would not be troublesome.

Abia State got the same number in March. Presco proposed acquiring and developing roughly 14,000 hectares for plantations and agro-industrial facilities, and Governor Alex Otti compared it to the era when Michael Okpara's farm settlements made the Eastern Region a global palm oil power. Soil sampling and community consultations were already under way.

The company bought 10,000 hectares across the Nsadop and Boki plantations in Cross River State in December.

What is driving it is a shortfall. Nigeria's crude palm oil deficit runs close to a million tonnes, the country spends about $600 million a year importing edible oil, and Presco is among the few fully integrated producers in West Africa, meaning it grows, mills and refines rather than buying crude oil from someone else.

Sarumi bought his way to that position rather than building it.

Presco acquired 52% of Ghana Oil Palm Development Company for $124.92 million, its first move outside Nigeria, taking on two estates covering 21,000 hectares producing more than 35,000 tonnes. It then bought Saro Oil Palm for about $46.7 million, adding a land bank above 14,000 hectares with 5,000 under cultivation.

Together the deals lifted plantation area 37%, from 43,547 hectares to 59,760.

The second of those purchases has a problem attached. Sarumi owned Saro Oil Palm through his conglomerate Saroafrica International, and he chairs the company that bought it, which put him on both sides of a transaction worth around $46 million to him personally. Saro Oil Palm was incorporated in 2019 and is not expected to turn a profit until 2027.

The plantation at the centre of it has also faced land grab allegations from surrounding communities, and litigation forced Presco's board to resubmit every resolution passed at its 2024 annual meeting, including the approval for the Ghanaian acquisition.

Shareholders paid for the expansion. Presco launched a rights issue of about 250 billion naira, roughly $163 million, aimed at existing holders, with proceeds earmarked for refinancing debt, settling the outstanding Ghanaian consideration, paying for Saro Oil Palm and building a buffer.

Sarumi's control runs through a Belgian company. Saroafrica acquired 86.7% of SIAT in March 2024, ending 33 years of Belgian family ownership after a court restructuring, and SIAT holds 520,200,000 Presco shares. His look-through stake in Presco passed $1.03 billion in July, though his debt position is not public.

The group now operates in Nigeria, Ghana, the United States, China and Belgium, where SIAT is headquartered.

Sarumi has said Presco will secure the free, prior and informed consent of host communities, establish clear operational boundaries and implement community action plans wherever it expands.

Companies House filings show he is sole director and sole person with significant control of Saroafrica Limited in Britain, which was put into solvent members' voluntary liquidation in December 2024 after its principal asset was sold into Presco.