Sterling Bank backs equinorth capital’s export growth drive as firm scales cashew, soybean and hibiscus trade

Lagos-based agro-commodity trading firm, Equinorth Capital Limited, has applauded Sterling Bank for playing a central role in its trade business growth since the company commenced operations in 2020.

This, according to the company, has engendered its market presence and its race towards market leadership, especially at a time when other financiers are pushing back on new market entrants. Through this support, Equinorth Capital has shown significant footprint in Nigeria’s non-oil export space.

Equinorth, which trades in cashew nuts, soybeans, hibiscus and sesame seed, has exported over 2,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts alone since inception, alongside significant volumes of the other commodities. The company sources and aggregates its produce through local buying agents and channels it through its three major warehouses in Kano, Niger State and Lagos for onward delivery to top-tier offshore offtakers.

Speaking on the company’s growth, the Chief Operating Officer of Equinorth Capital Limited, Feyisayo Ariyo, said Sterling Bank’s support had been felt beyond conventional financing, extending to capacity-building for exporters. She was joined by the company’s Head of Trade Finance, Aghaunor Goddey Chuks, who spoke to the depth of the bank’s trade finance team.

“Sterling Bank has been a tremendous support to us from inception,” Ariyo said. “We’ve also attended some of the bank’s events, which were very insightful and very informative for exporters, and that has contributed to positioning us as one of the key players in this space.”

“The Trade Finance team displays tremendous knowledge of the market, with workable structures that are bespoke to exporters,” Chuks added.

Riding Nigeria’s non-oil export push

Equinorth’s growth comes at a time when Nigerian deposit money banks are increasingly courting non-oil exporters, as the country looks to diversify its foreign exchange earnings beyond crude. Cashew and sesame remain among Nigeria’s leading non-oil export commodities, with West Africa broadly recognised as a major global source of raw cashew nuts, even as the bulk of that output continues to leave the region unprocessed.

Sterling Bank has positioned itself as one of the more visible lenders in this space, running exporter engagement programmes aimed at helping small and mid-sized trading companies navigate financing, documentation and market access — support Ariyo said had directly shaped Equinorth’s trajectory.

Beyond commodity trading

With its export base now established across three commodity lines, Equinorth describes itself as building toward becoming a broader conglomerate, with plans to diversify into other sectors in the years ahead. The company also disclosed plans to expand its trading operations into Dubai and Singapore in the near term, as it looks to deepen its access to international offtake markets and strengthen its position as a cross-border commodity trader.

Its warehousing infrastructure across Kano, Niger State and Lagos — strategically located near key production and aggregation zones for cashew and soybeans — underpins current operations and is expected to support that expansion.

For now, the company says its focus remains on deepening its position in its existing commodity lines while leaning on institutional partnerships to scale further.

“As we look ahead, our goal is to keep strengthening our export volumes while building the kind of institutional relationships that allow us to scale sustainably,” Mrs Feyisayo Ariyo added.