…Opens new window for Julius Berger, Olam, others
The United States’ 46 percent tariff on all imports from Vietnam has opened an opportunity for Nigeria’s cashew processors to tap the $1.5 billion market.
Vietnam is the United States’ biggest cashew exporter. It shipped cashew worth $1.2 billion, amounting to 459, 483 metric tons (MT), to the US in 2024, according to data from the Vietnam Cashew Association.
On the other hand, Nigeria is the 11th biggest cashew exporter to the US, shipping 4,841 MT to the world’s biggest economy in 2024.
Donald Trump, US’ president, had imposed a 46 percent tariff on all products from Vietnam, but capped the levy on Nigerian goods at 14 percent.
Experts say the tariff automatically makes Vietnam’s cashew costlier than Nigerians,’ making the nation’s product more competitive than Vietnam’s.
“If Vietnam loses access to the U.S. market, they will redirect supply elsewhere, pushing prices down,” said Ade Adesokan, managing director of Annie Glidden Commodities Nigeria Limited, in a recent media interview.
“We cannot afford to miss this window. It is time to wake up and take control of the opportunity in the US market before someone else does,” he said.
Approximately $252 million was generated from Nigeria’s raw cashew nut exports in 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), significantly contributing to the growth of the non-oil sector and highlighting the crop’s importance in the country’s economic diversification efforts.
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Driven by increasing global demand in the food and beverage industries, cashew nuts have emerged as a high-value Nigerian commodity with strong potential to boost foreign exchange (FX) earnings, create jobs, and combat desertification, according to recent reports by AFEX, Nigeria’s leading commodities exchange.
“Cashew is Nigeria’s second-largest agricultural export commodity after cocoa and holds immense potential to boost our foreign exchange reserves, especially with the recent discovery of using cashew shell liquid to produce fuel,” said Ore Faseru, CEO of Colossus Ventures.
Emmanuel Dada, area sales manager at AFEX, said: “There is vast potential for growth through local processing, which will reduce our dependence on volatile global prices, open up foreign markets, and generate more employment opportunities.”
Stephen Popoola, founder of Agro Optimizer Limited, noted that there are numerous investment opportunities for young agropreneurs in the cashew sector—from setting up nurseries with improved seed varieties to investing in processing facilities and developing value-added products.
“Agritech solutions like mobile apps for market access, produce aggregation, and precision agriculture tools also present exciting possibilities for innovation and growth in the sector,” he added.
Challenges
Despite its tremendous potential, Nigeria’s cashew production has seen a significant decline over the years, dropping from 791,721 metric tons in 2010 to around 250,000 metric tons in 2025— a 68 percent decrease, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reports.
Popoola highlighted challenges such as limited access to financing, poor infrastructure, the impacts of climate change and insecurity.
He also noted that farmers struggle with pest management and a lack of modern processing facilities, which significantly reduce their profitability.
Read also: FG urged to shift focus to cashew processing to boost export, output
“Price control issues, foreign interference with local marketers—who are squeezing local investors by inflating prices—along with infrastructural deficits and the low scale of processing are significant challenges,” said Faseru.
About 98 percent of Africa’s cashew nuts are still sold raw, which severely limits the industry’s potential according to reports.
The cashew nuts market is projected to grow from $8.52 billion in 2024 to $9.05 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2 percent, according to the Business Research Company. By 2029, the market is expected to reach $11.36 billion, the report noted.
Ivory Coast leads global production with 1.04 million metric tonnes annually, followed by India (782,000 metric tonnes) and Vietnam (347,000 metric tonnes), as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Africa produces nearly 60 percent of the world’s cashews, while Asia contributes 38 percent and America just 5 percent, giving Africa a significant advantage if the sector is properly leveraged.
Julius Berger, Olam, others to benefit
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is expected to tap the opportunity. It commissioned an ultra-modern cashew processing plant in 2022, designed to produce 60 tons per day of premium cashew in Epe, Lagos State.
“We have now strategically diversified Julius Berger from being only an engineering construction entity into agricultural produce processing for which we all know Nigerians have a historical antecedent and understandable nostalgia,” said Mutiu Sunmonu, chairman of Julius Berger’s board of directors.
Olam is one of Nigeria’s biggest cashew exporters, shipping the product to African and European markets. Olam, alongside other players, such as Valency Cashew Processing Limited, NADIS cashew processing plant, and Vertex Agro Limited are positioned to benefit.
