Dorado plans $18 million cashew-processing plant in Yamoussoukro
Dorado FZCO is seeking IFC financing for a cashew-processing plant with annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes in Yamoussoukro. The project would lift the group’s capacity in Côte d’Ivoire to at least 170,000 tonnes a year.
IFC loan would finance new capacity
Dubai-based holding company Dorado FZCO is negotiating a €13 million ($15 million) loan from the International Finance Corporation to finance a new cashew-processing plant in Yamoussoukro, La Tribune reported. The project is being developed by Bluejay Nuts, Dorado’s wholly owned Ivorian subsidiary, and represents total investment of nearly €16 million ($18 million).
Dorado’s shareholders are expected to provide the remaining €2.6 million ($3 million) in equity. Information published by the IFC showed that the financing was still awaiting approval as of September 17. Commissioning is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, which would make Yamoussoukro Dorado’s second industrial site in Côte d’Ivoire after Toumodi.
Group capacity could reach 170,000 tonnes
The planned facility will be able to process 50,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually. It will also include a warehouse with capacity for 30,000 tonnes, a boiler, a wastewater-treatment plant and a 2.5 MW rooftop solar installation. Dorado’s Toumodi factory opened in 2022 with initial annual processing capacity of 60,000 tonnes and has since expanded to 120,000 tonnes, according to information assessed for the IFC project.
Once the Yamoussoukro plant begins operating, Dorado would control at least 170,000 tonnes of annual processing capacity in the country. The company bought about 92,000 tonnes of raw nuts in 2025 and plans to raise purchases to 150,000 tonnes in 2027, an increase of more than 60% over two years. Its supply network comprises about 100 suppliers, of which 80% are cooperatives and 20% are aggregators. Dorado currently leases storage in Bondoukou, Bouaké and Toumodi with combined capacity of 104,000 tonnes; the new warehouse would raise the total to at least 134,000 tonnes.
Côte d’Ivoire moves further into value-added processing
Shells generated in Yamoussoukro are expected to supply Dorado’s facility in Toumodi that produces cashew nut shell liquid, or CNSL. The industrial oil is used in resins, coatings, paints, brake linings and other friction materials. The Toumodi installation can process as much as 250 tonnes of shells per day and produce about 60 tonnes of CNSL. Dorado also plans to develop a biomass power plant there by 2028 to use more production residue for energy.
The investment supports Côte d’Ivoire’s effort to retain more value from a crop historically exported raw, principally to India and Vietnam. Official data show that Ivorian processors absorbed nearly 660,000 tonnes of raw nuts in 2025, equal to about 43% of national production. Three agro-industrial zones under development in Korhogo, Bondoukou and Séguéla are expected to add at least 150,000 tonnes of processing capacity from the 2026 season. The industry is also moving beyond shelling toward packaged, ready-to-eat kernels that meet international market standards, while investment in shell processing is creating additional outlets for factory residues.
