West Africa’s ambition to build a stronger, value-added cashew industry is facing growing pressure as exports of semi-processed cashew kernels to Vietnam continue to rise, according to industry expert Jim Fitzpatrick.
The expert warns that the trend is undermining local processing, weakening industrial growth, and limiting the region’s ability to create more jobs and retain greater export value within its own economies.
At the centre of the concern is the growing export of what is known in the industry as borma—cashew kernels that have only undergone the early stages of processing. After raw cashew nuts are steamed and cut, the partially processed kernels are exported before the final and more value-intensive stages such as peeling, grading by size and colour, and packaging are completed.
Those final stages are often carried out outside Africa, especially in Asia.
Initially, the production of borma was considered a useful entry point for smaller processors in West Africa, allowing them to participate in the cashew value chain without taking on the full complexity and cost of advanced processing. However, what began as a practical stepping stone is now becoming a dominant trade pattern, raising concerns about the long-term future of local industry development.
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Using Côte d’Ivoire as an example, Fitzpatrick said the country processed about 550,000 tons of raw cashew nuts last year, producing roughly 120,000 tons of kernels.
But only a small share of that volume reached traditional premium export markets. About 34,000 tons were exported to the European Union, while around 5,000 tons went to the United States.
That leaves more than 100,000 tons of kernels largely unaccounted for in those conventional destinations.
While some of the volumes were shipped to the Middle East and North Africa, Fitzpatrick says most of them were exported to Vietnam in semi-processed form.
According to him, this is no longer a country-specific issue but a broader regional trend affecting cashew-producing economies across West Africa.
Despite the relatively modest export volumes to Europe, Côte d’Ivoire still remained Africa’s largest supplier of cashew kernels to the EU. Out of the 44,000 tons of cashew kernels exported from Africa to the European bloc in 2025, the country accounted for more than 75 percent.
Outside Côte d’Ivoire, the situation appears even more concerning. Fitzpatrick says exports from other African countries to Europe dropped by 40 percent, with much of that supply instead redirected toward Vietnam.
He says one of the biggest drivers of this shift is not necessarily demand alone, but finance.
According to Fitzpatrick, limited access to working capital remains one of the biggest structural constraints facing processors in West Africa.
Asian processors, he explains, typically buy raw cashew nuts to cover only two to three months of activity. They process, sell, and then restock throughout the year, reducing both capital requirements and financial risk.
By contrast, processors in West Africa often have to buy most of their raw cashew supply during a short three-to-four-month harvest season in order to keep factories running throughout the year.
That means tying up large amounts of money upfront, storing raw materials for longer periods, and taking on greater financing and quality risks.
With access to bank credit still limited in many producing countries, exporting borma kernels has become a quicker and less risky way for processors to generate cash and stay afloat.
But while that may solve short-term liquidity problems, it creates a bigger long-term challenge for industrialisation and value addition.
The trend also has environmental implications.
Fitzpatrick notes that exporting 100,000 tons of borma kernels can leave behind roughly 300,000 tons of cashew shells, a residue rich in oil that requires proper processing or disposal.
Without enough investment and profit margins, many processors focused on borma lack the incentive or financial ability to recover and utilise those by-products effectively.
He argues that if West Africa is serious about building a competitive, job-creating cashew industry, then better financing tools, stronger credit access, and bank guarantee mechanisms tailored to the sector will be critical.
Without those reforms, the region risks remaining trapped at the semi-processing stage—exporting opportunity instead of fully capturing it.
