Cashew Nut Biz
Making millions from cashew exportSmall Business and Entreprenuership
Nigerians are making millions from cashew export
yearly. DANIEL ESSIET reports that the commodity has
high economic and nutritional value.
For the few Nigerians who export cashew, the
business has been of instant success. Driven by the
rise in demand from China, India and other fast-
growing economies, the global cashew boom has
generated profits at most trading houses.Together,
some cashew exporters are worth millions of
dollars in annual revenue. One of them is the Chief
Executive, Universal Quest Nigeria, Mr Sotonye Anga,
one of many of the quiet giants in commodities
business, who export cashew nuts. He has been a
success story in the business but this is not without
its challenges. For instance,he faces challenges from
companies such as Olam that command great
influence in commodities marketing globally. This
notwithstanding, Anga said there are more
opportunities to make money in cashew exports
with the reported sharp rise in imported raw cashew
nut prices from East Africa. This is encouraging
buyers to look for greener pastures in other countries.
With the government and the private sector
campaigning to farmers to increase local cultivation
, cashew exports could be inching closer to a new
peak of 400,000 tonnes.
Anga said there are high profits from cashew,
buoyed by high demand.
And with world price rising and expected to remain
steady, he said life is changing for Nigerians who
are ready to invest in cashew export.It requires an
investment of N1.5 million but the returns ranges
from 10 to 30 percent per transaction.
He said Nigerians can end their drudgery if they take
to cashew exports. The demand for the crop is high
locally and internationally, and this will hopefully
continue to rise.
According to him, exporters can get enough supply
because cashew can grow very well in more than
24 states of the federation.Maintaining high quality
cashew nuts, he said, is very critical to an exporter,
and as such, he believes in partnering with
producers with good cashew plantations,best
production processing, and marketing practices.
This,he added, is central to ensuring that cashew
businesses will develop into highly profitable
ventures.Cashew is currently exported to India and