Early Warning System

Countries

Nigeria

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Financial Institutions

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Active

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Borrower

Robust International Pte Ltd.; Robust International Commodities Ltd.

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Agriculture and Forestry

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 20.00 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Loan Amount (USD)

$ 20.00 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 20.00 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Bank Documents

Project Disclosure [Original Source]

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ DFC website

Updated in EWS May 31, 2025

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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of a $20 million direct Loan to Robust International Pte Ltd and Robust International Commodities Limited to finance working capital for value added specialty commodity processing in Nigeria.

the DFC loan will provide working capital to expand Robust International’s commodity purchasing capabilities in Nigeria, increasing local value addition. The Project is expected to increase the proportion of total procurement of raw cashew nuts and sesame seeds sourced from small-holder farmers, generate an estimated $375 million in exports sales, and support more than 1,000 new jobs at Robust International’s recently built local processing facilities. In addition, the Project will enable Robust International to conduct outreach to small-holder farmers to improve farming practices and increase the quality, sustainability, and traceability of its supply chain.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The Project is screened as Category B because impacts are primarily site-specific and can be managed and mitigated in accordance with the Applicable Standards.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)

$20 million loan with a 5-year tenor and 3-year grace period.

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Robust International is a Singapore-based midscale agri-commodities trader. In Nigeria, Robust sources 40 percent of the commodities (Sesame, Cashew, Ginger, Gum Arabic, Pulses, Turmeric and Shea nuts) directly from 44,000 farmers and 60 percent from 40 Licensed Buying Agents, carries out primary processing (i.e., fumigation, sorting and hulling) before selling to consumers in China (53 percent), Vietnam (37 percent), Turkey (6 percent) and India (4 percent).

According to the Company’s website, established in 2017, Robust International Commodities Ltd.'s core activities involve the sourcing, processing, and export of a diverse range of niche agricultural commodities.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	Robust International Commodities Ltd.	Client	-
-	-	-	-	Robust International Pte Ltd	Client	-

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Unlike many other development finance institutions, DFC does not currently have an access to information policy.

Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms.

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability