Burkina Faso Flags Off $11.5m Cashew Factory to Eliminate $111m Cheap Unprocessed Annual Cashew Export

Burkina Faso is intensifying efforts to end the export of raw agricultural products by investing heavily in local processing industries. The latest move is launching a CFA6.65 billion ($11.5 million) cashew processing factory in Péni, located in the Hauts-Bassins region.

President Ibrahim Traoré flagged off the construction of the facility on 22 May. Once completed in December 2025, the plant will process 5,000 tonnes of cashew nuts annually and produce derivatives such as juice, wine, vinegar, and alcohol from cashew apples. The project is being executed by the Burkina Faso Council for Agropastoral and Fisheries Sectors (CBF).

The idea for the plant from the fact that Burkina Faso produces nearly two million tons of cashew apples every year. And when you look at [it], there are two products: the cashew nut which everyone knows is valued and the cashew apple.

So our mission is to transform 5,000 tons of cashew apples a year into a concentrate that can later be transformed into other products such juice, wine, vinegar and ethyl alcohol”, Clement Attiou, CBF’s Managing Director explained. 

The government says the plant will spend over CFA500 million ($867,000) each year to buy raw cashew from local producers, offering a new source of income for farmers. Authorities also hope to reduce the volume of cashew apples wasted annually due to a lack of processing infrastructure. The plant is also expected to inject $1 million annually into the local economy.

Despite having a processing capacity of 30,000 tonnes since 2021, only about 16,000 tonnes of cashew nuts were processed in 2024, representing just 10 per cent of national output, according to data from advisory firm N’kalô. The country’s $111 million in cashew export earnings came from shipping raw nuts abroad.

The Péni cashew project represents a shift towards domestic industrialisation. In December 2024, Burkina Faso commissioned two tomato processing factories – SOBTO in Bobo-Dioulasso and SOFATO in Yako. The Yako plant, which produces 100 tonnes of tomato paste daily, is located near a major dam to ensure water supply for farming and was financed through a mix of government funds, private investment, and community shareholding.

Before that, the government opened a gold refinery in 2023 in Ouagadougou to process locally mined gold and reduce the export of raw bullion.

In September 2024, authorities suspended the export of shea nuts to ensure steady supplies for local processors. Burkina Faso is the world’s third-largest producer of shea, yielding about 400,000 tonnes of kernels annually.

Together, these initiatives aim to keep more value from natural resources within the country and reverse decades of exporting raw materials at the expense of the country’s economy.

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