Yemisi Izuora
In a fresh boost for Nigeria’s corporate debt capital market, Pathway Advisors Limited has officially announced the launch of Zeenab Foods Limited’s Series 3 Commercial Paper (CP) issuance of up to ₦25 billion. The offer, now open to subscription, is issued under the company’s broader ₦50 billion Commercial Paper Programme.
According to transaction details made available, the subscription window opened on August 4, 2026, and is set to close on August 10, 2026, with issue and settlement scheduled for August 11, 2026, and maturity falling on August 10, 2027.
Proceeds from the ₦25 billion debt issuance will be deployed directly towards working capital financing to support Zeenab’s short-term funding requirements across its agro-processing and commodity trading operations.
Zeenab Foods, established in 2011, plays a notable role in Nigeria’s agro-value chain, operating across three core segments: milling of paddy rice, export of processed and packaged agro-commodities, and food supply contracts with international donor agencies, including the United Nations World Food Programme.
Its footprint spans processing facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) and Kano State, with an export liaison network extending to China, through offices in Changsha, Guangzhou and Shanghai, and to the Middle East, via a hub in Dubai.
The offer is priced on a fixed-price basis, with minimum participation pegged at ₦5 million and integer multiples of ₦1,000 thereafter.
Highlighting the creditworthiness of the issuer, leading rating agencies have assigned investment-grade ratings to Zeenab Foods:
Agusto & Co.: Short-Term A1, Long-Term A-
DataPro Limited: Short-Term A1, Long-Term A+
The company has built a consistent repayment history under both its former ₦20 billion programme and the current ₦50 billion programme, having redeemed successive tranches across Series 1 through 4 since 2024, with every obligation settled ahead of its due date, a track record underscoring the strength of its cash flow and investor confidence in the paper.
A key growth driver behind the issuer’s expanding revenue base is capacity expansion across its milling and processing lines. Zeenab’s rice mill now runs an installed capacity of 180 metric tonnes per day, up 50 per cent following an expansion commissioned in 2025, with average utilisation of about 85 per cent.
The company has also moved swiftly to capture new opportunities created by regulatory shifts. Following the Federal Government’s August 2025 ban on raw shea nut exports, Zeenab secured a lease for a 100 metric tonnes per day shea butter processing facility in Ogun State, with plans to scale this to 300 metric tonnes per day while diversifying into soya oil, edible oil refining and cocoa butter production.
On the humanitarian supply side, Zeenab’s relationship with the UN-WFP has continued to strengthen supported by sustained demand across the Sahel region.