Cardinal Torch taps N10bn debt market to fund agro-processing pivot

Nigerian commodity trader Cardinal Torch Company Limited has fully subscribed a N10 billion commercial paper issuance to fund a strategic pivot from raw exports to agro-processing. The debt raise marks the company’s first step toward an eventual public listing.

"The journey into the capital market has started. We went into the market for N10 billion and we came out for N10 billion… What we are creating is a legacy organization that will outlive its founders," said David Oladunjoye Olurin, Managing Director and CEO.

Founded in 2020 as an exporter of raw goods like cocoa and cashew, Cardinal Torch is now moving into manufacturing. The company is completing a 10 tonne per day cashew processing facility in Ishagamu, Ogun State, to produce semi-processed and ready-to-eat products.

Structural margins

The shift targets a structural inefficiency in Nigeria's economy. Agricultural products accounted for 41.04% of the country's total non-oil exports in 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, with cocoa alone making up 24.61% of that figure.

However, exporting raw materials transfers the most lucrative stages of the supply chain to countries like India and Vietnam. "We intend to plug that gap, because when we add value from raw materials to finished products, we retain more value within Nigeria," said Chief Technical Officer Emmanuel Mshelia.

Non-oil export volumes rose 10% to 8.02 million metric tonnes in 2025, up from 7.29 million the prior year, data from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council shows. Cardinal Torch's strategy aims to capture a larger share of this growing volume by keeping processing domestic.

Cost constraints

Executing this strategy requires overcoming severe local operating headwinds. Industry leaders cited weak regulation, poor infrastructure, unreliable power and high logistics costs as major barriers to the sector.

Ndutimobong Sunday, Head of Business Development and Commercial, noted that local processors buy raw commodities at the same prices as their Asian rivals but lose their competitive edge during manufacturing. "You are buying commodities in Nigeria at the same price somebody in Vietnam is buying, but after processing, you realise you are barely competing because your costs are higher," she said.

Sunday urged the government to introduce production cost incentives and highlighted the rising need for traceability and sustainability standards in global agricultural trade.

To stabilize the operating environment, Olurin advocated for the creation of a national commodities board. "We need to create an efficient commodities board that cuts across all commodities. That board will have powers to monitor and coordinate how the industry should work," he said. He also recommended that manufacturers diversify their energy sources to mitigate grid instability.