The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has called for increased investment in local agricultural processing to help Nigeria retain more value from its agricultural resources and strengthen its competitiveness in regional and global markets.
The call comes as the IFC deepens its partnership with Nigerian agribusiness and food manufacturing company, Johnvents Group, to promote value addition, sustainable supply chains, technology adoption and access to international markets.
IFC Division Director for Nigeria and Central Africa, Olivier Buyoya, said private sector investment in companies such as Johnvents could support Nigeria’s agricultural transformation by connecting smallholder farmers to markets and expanding domestic processing.
Buyoya also highlighted Johnvents’ 2025 Sustainability Report, which outlines the company’s environmental, social and governance practices in line with Global Reporting Initiative standards.
According to the report, Johnvents reached 40,000 farmers through capacity-building programmes, while 122,916 hectares of farmland were verified as deforestation-free.
The company has expanded beyond cocoa into soybean, cashew, fast-moving consumer goods and other agricultural commodities. Its Founder and Group Managing Director, John Alamu, said the group operates 10 factories in Nigeria and has business operations in 19 countries, with relationships involving more than 40,000 farmers.
Alamu said the company’s integrated model, spanning agricultural sourcing, processing, manufacturing and international distribution, was designed to increase value creation within Africa and improve the competitiveness of African products globally.
He added that the IFC partnership had supported improvements in corporate governance, environmental and social performance, farmer training and traceability.
The partnership is expected to strengthen links between farmers, processors and manufacturers while promoting sustainable agricultural supply chains and ensuring that more value from Africa’s agricultural commodities is retained within the continent.
