GuarantCo, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, has provided a 100 per cent guarantee to support a $75m debt facility for Robust International Pte Ltd to construct a new cashew nut processing plant in Ogun State, Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a statement from the British High Commission Communications Office on Thursday.
Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest cashew producers, with about 250-300k tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually, yet currently less than 10 per cent are processed domestically. Most raw nuts are exported unprocessed to Asian and other countries, forfeiting up to 80 per cent of their potential export value and adding exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations.
This additional plant will more than double Robust’s existing cashew processing capacity from 100 MT to 220 MT per day to help reduce this structural gap.
The new plant will be of extensive benefit to the local economy, with the procurement of cashew nuts from about 10,000 primarily low-income smallholder farmers. There is an expected increase in export revenue (circa $335m) and procurement from the local supply chain over the lifetime of the guarantee.
The debt facility was provided by a Symbiotics-arranged bond platform, which in turn issued notes with the benefit of the GuarantCo guarantee.
These notes have been subscribed to in full by M&G Investments. The transaction was executed in record time due to the successful replication of two recent transactions in Ivory Coast and Senegal, again in collaboration with M&G Investments and Symbiotics. PIDG is funded by six governments: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden and Canada.
British Deputy High Commissioner Mr Jonny Baxter said, “The UK is proud to support innovative financing that mobilises private capital into Nigeria’s productive economy through UK-backed institutions such as PIDG. By backing investment into local processing and value addition, this transaction supports jobs, exports and more resilient agricultural supply chains. Complementing this, through the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnerships and the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, the UK is supporting Nigerian businesses to scale exports to the UK and beyond, demonstrating how UK-backed partnerships help firms grow and compete internationally.”
Head of Africa and Middle East Investments at GuarantCo, Dave Chalila, said, “This transaction marks GuarantCo’s third collaboration with M&G Investments and Symbiotics, emphasising our efforts to bring replicability to everything we do so that we accelerate socio-economic development where it matters most. The transaction is consistent with PIDG’s mandate to mobilise private capital into high-impact, underfinanced sectors. In this case, crowding in institutional investors to the African agri-processing value chain.
“As with the two recent similarly structured transactions, funding is channelled through the Symbiotics institutional investor platform, with the notes externally rated by Fitch and benefiting from a rating uplift due to the GuarantCo guarantee.”
Group Executive Director at Robust International Group, Vishanth Narayan, said, “As a global leader in agricultural commodities, Robust International remains steadfast in its commitment to building resilient, ethical and value-adding supply chains across origin and destination markets. This transaction represents an important step in advancing our long-term strategy of strengthening processing capabilities, deepening engagement with farmers and enhancing local value addition in the regions where we operate. Through sustained investment, disciplined execution and decades of operating experience, we continue to focus on delivering reliable, high-quality products while fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”
Director at M&G Investments, María Redondo, said, “We’re pleased to partner again with Symbiotics and GuarantCo on this innovative transaction. The guarantee gives us the assurance to invest in hard currency and emerging market debt while supporting Robust’s new cashew processing plant in Nigeria. It’s a clear example of how smart credit enhancement can unlock institutional capital for high-impact development and manage currency and credit risks effectively. This is another strong step in channelling institutional capital into meaningful, on-the-ground growth.”
Structuring & Arranging at Symbiotics, Valeria Berzunza, said, “This third collaboration reinforces the value of developing structured financial products through strategic partnerships to mobilise investment from institutional investors seeking exposure to highly rated securities into high-impact projects in emerging markets. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with M&G Investments, GuarantCo, and now with Robust through a transaction with a strong social and gender focus, demonstrating that well-structured products can boost commercially attractive, viable, and impactful investments.”
Furthermore, the new plant will incorporate functionality to convert waste by-products into value-added biomass and biofuel inputs to enhance the environmental impact of the transaction.
It is anticipated that up to 900 jobs will be created, with as many as 78 per cent to be held by women. Robust also has a target to gradually increase the share of procurement from women farmers from 15 to 25 per cent by 2028, as it reaches new regions in Nigeria and extends its ongoing gender-responsive outreach programme for farmers.
The transaction is aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero Hunger) and 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).
The PUNCH reports that GuarantCo mobilises private sector local currency investment for infrastructure projects and supports the development of financial markets in lower-income countries across Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, Robust International is a Singapore-headquartered agribusiness group, founded in 2006, with operations spanning Africa, Asia and Europe, focused on the sourcing, processing and global distribution of agricultural commodities.
