A British entrepreneur and Managing Director of Rio Kavanagh Holdings Ltd, Rio Kavanagh, has announced plans to support the export of at least 350 metric tonnes of Nigerian cocoa and sesame by March 2027 through an initial £1.2 million trade-finance facility.
Kavanagh said the facility would support local produce aggregation, storage and port logistics, with funding directed towards preserving commodities, transporting them to shipping terminals and meeting export requirements.
He said the programme formed part of the company’s capital allocation plan for the fourth quarter of 2026 and first quarter of 2027, targeting agricultural export supply chains in West Africa.
In Nigeria, the company plans to focus on the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Apapa shipping corridors in Lagos, as well as agricultural aggregation centres in central and western parts of the country.
“We intend to establish formal, structured trade-financing agreements with key licensed local aggregators,” Kavanagh said in written responses to questions on the investment.
He explained that the £1.2 million facility comprised corporate capital and trade-credit arrangements to support cocoa and sesame supply chains serving overseas buyers, including European industrial markets.
Kavanagh said the initiative was designed to address challenges exporters face in financing and coordinating the movement of agricultural produce from collection centres to shipping ports.
“The biggest structural challenge has undoubtedly been navigating localized logistical friction and currency arbitrage risks,” he said.
He added that port delays and transport bottlenecks could affect the quality of agricultural produce, making proper storage and handling essential to the export process.
To address these challenges, Kavanagh said the facility would operate through a warehouse-receipt arrangement, with insurance covering physical commodities held as collateral at transit hubs near the ports.
He said the company would focus on financing and managing investment risks while relying on local partners for produce aggregation and logistics.
Kavanagh said the decision to invest in cocoa and sesame followed an assessment conducted in late 2025, during which his team reviewed five years of West African export data, comparing price and volume movements with port-clearance times.
According to him, the review identified gaps in trade financing as a major source of supply-chain pressure in both commodities, presenting an opportunity for private capital to support exporters.
He said his responsibilities as managing director included overseeing capital structuring, currency exposure and agreements with local partners.
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