Robust secures US$20M debt facility to drive cashew processing in Côte d’Ivoire

CÔTE D’IVOIRE – Robust International Pte Ltd (Robust) has secured a US$20 million debt facilityfrom GuarantCo, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), in partnership with Symbiotics, to finance a new cashew processing and aggregation operation in Côte d’Ivoire.

GuarantCo is providing a 100% payment default guarantee of up to US$23 million to support the loan facility, helping mobilise private institutional capital into Côte d’Ivoire’s agricultural processing sector.

The financing will support the development of a greenfield cashew processing plant in Toumodi, with a processing capacity of 15,000 tonnes per year.

It will also finance aggregation warehouse facilities capable of handling 25,000 tonnes annually in Bouaké and 19,000 tonnes in Toumodi.

The investment comes as Côte d’Ivoire seeks to capture more value from one of its most important agricultural commodities.

The country is the world’s largest cashew producer, but only around 30% of its cashew production is currently processed domestically, with limited processing capacity, storage infrastructure and access to financing constraining the sector.

By increasing in-country processing, the project is expected to contribute to the government’s ambition of processing 50% of cashew production locally by 2030.

The facility is forecast to source cashews from approximately 1,500 smallholder farmers and generate an estimated US$79.2 million increase in export revenue.

It is also expected to create 510 jobs, with women projected to account for 40% of short-term and 80% of long-term positions.

“The United Kingdom is proud to support another major investment in Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew processing sector, that creates jobs, strengthens local industry and drives sustainable economic growth,” said John Marshall, British Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire.

The project also incorporates circular economy principles by seeking to extract additional value from cashew processing waste.

Cashew shells will be converted into Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL), a commercially useful industrial material, while residual shell cake will be sold to a third party for conversion into fertiliser.

This approach could help improve resource efficiency while creating additional revenue streams from materials that would otherwise be treated as processing waste.

Vishanth Narayan, Group CEO of Robust International Group, said the investment would allow the company to source more cashews from local farmers, expand domestic value addition and create employment while converting cashew by-products into commercially useful materials.

Mobilising private investment

The transaction features a blended financing structure involving M&G Investments and impact funds advised by Symbiotics Asset Management.

Covered notes issued through a Symbiotics-arranged vehicle have been fully subscribed by M&G Investments with the benefit of the GuarantCo guarantee, while an uncovered tranche has been subscribed by impact funds advised by Symbiotics Asset Management.

The deal is the second collaboration between GuarantCo and Robust, following an earlier transaction supporting localised cashew processing in Nigeria.

t is also GuarantCo’s second transaction in Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew sector, following a 2025 deal supporting another producer.

Dave Chalila, Head of Africa Investments at GuarantCo, said the transaction builds on the structure used in Nigeria, helping reduce execution risks while mobilising institutional capital into an agro-industrial asset in an underserved market.

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