Dekeloil lands tax exemption for Côte d'Ivoire cashew project

DekelOil Public Limited on Thursday received corporation tax exemption for 13 years future profits generated at the planned raw cashew nut processing project at Tiebissou, Côte d'Ivoire.

The AIM traded West African focused agricultural company said the exemption follows a successful application under the investment incentives code, which is administered by Côte d'Ivoire government agency CEPICI.

After 13 years the project’s profits will be eased to a 50% rate of corporation tax, followed by 75% the next year before returning the full prevailing corporation tax rate, currently 25%.

DekelOil executive director Lincoln Moore said: "The tax exemption greatly enhances the already highly attractive economics of processing cashews in Côte d'Ivoire. It also demonstrates government support for the in-country cashew processing project which is being developed at Tiebissou. Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer of cashews, but only 7% of its output is processed in-country."

Operations at the site, where initial production of 10,000 tonnes per annum is being targeted, are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2019.

"By adopting the collaborative model we successfully deployed at our producing palm oil project in Ayenouan, the 10,000tpa plant at Tiebissou, which can be expanded to 30,000 tpa, will help plug this significant shortfall in domestic capacity and ensure more value-add activity is carried out in Côte d'Ivoire," said Moore.

DekelOil has also secured an option to acquire a 58% majority interest in Capro CI SA, which is developing the cashew processing project at Tiebissou.

As of 1456 BST, Dekeloil’s shares were up 2.31% at 6.65p.