British Entrepreneur Rio Kavanagh Announces Plan to Invest in Nigeria’s Cocoa, Sesame Trade
- Rio Kavanagh says a review of five years of export data shaped his decision to focus on Nigerian cocoa and sesame
- The British entrepreneur has announced a £1.2 million facility combining company capital with trade credit
- His company aims to support exports of at least 350 metric tonnes of the two crops combined by March 2027
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For Rio Kavanagh, the attraction of Nigeria's cocoa and sesame trade lay in the journey between the farm gate and the port. He says his market assessment pointed to exporters with valuable produce and overseas demand, but to difficulties finding the money and logistics support to complete the journey.
Source: UGC
The British entrepreneur is now directing a £1.2 million trade-finance initiative through Rio Kavanagh Holdings Ltd, where he serves as managing director. Its focus is on licensed local aggregators and the supply chains connecting Nigerian agricultural produce with international buyers.
How Kavanagh chose the Nigerian market
Kavanagh dates the start of his assessment to late 2025. Before selecting the crops the business would finance, he said his team examined historical prices and export volumes across West Africa over a five-year period.
“The first step we took was executing a comprehensive historical price and volume data audit across West African export logs over the preceding five-year window,” he said in written responses to questions.
The team compared supply-chain volatility with the time taken for goods to clear ports. Kavanagh said the review drew attention to cocoa and sesame, where he saw financing gaps adding to the risks of getting produce to market.
That shaped the business he wanted to build: a source of private trade finance for aggregators handling produce for export. His intended role was to help fund the movement and preservation of goods while working with local operators responsible for aggregation and logistics.
What the £1.2 million facility will support
Kavanagh says the initial facility combines company capital with trade-credit arrangements. It is earmarked for cocoa and sesame, with a target of supporting at least 350 metric tonnes of the two crops combined by March 2027.
The geographic focus includes aggregation areas in central and western Nigeria and the Lekki and Apapa shipping corridors in Lagos. The planned financing covers the transit and storage of produce, alongside tracking compliance with export requirements.
“We intend to establish formal, structured trade-financing agreements with key licensed local aggregators,” he said.
Kavanagh identified delays and exchange-rate exposure as important challenges. He said the company had structured the facility around warehouse receipts, using insured produce held near the ports as collateral.
Kavanagh is an independent trader from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. His interests also include writing: Google Play lists his book, The Commodity Strategist, as published in November 2025.
In the Nigerian business, he says his responsibilities centre on investment decisions, the structure of financing and the risks of doing business across currencies and markets.
“I personally lead the quantitative side—managing cross-border liquidity risk, and structuring our joint-venture agreements with local partners,” he said.
He also oversees compliance with the requirements of overseas buyers. This places his work alongside the local partners handling the physical collection, storage and movement of produce.
The next milestone
The current allocation phase covers the last quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, when Kavanagh aims to scale activity around the Lagos shipping corridors.
“By the end of Q1 2027, our primary operational milestone is to fully scale our new capital allocation phase within the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Apapa shipping corridors,” he said.
Source: Legit.ng
