Why Kayode Ogunsua is Suddenly on Everyone’s Radar

Kayode Ogunsua has spent years working quietly at the edges of Nigeria’s commodities trade. That quiet is ending, with his cocoa empire and a reported $30 million stake in FCMB Group pushing him into the centre of the country’s business conversation.

Ogunsua is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Olatunde International Limited, one of Nigeria’s largest non-oil exporting firms and a dominant force in West African agribusiness.

Under his leadership, the company ships over 20,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans annually, with volumes peaking above 42,000 metric tonnes in recent years, valued at roughly $212.9 million.

One might think that that scale came from processing alone. In truth, Ogunsua built a sophisticated procurement network anchored by bonded export warehouses across major cocoa-producing states, with his Akure facility in Ondo State functioning as a federally approved inland dry port.

The Akure facility allows direct container loading and customs clearing, letting shipments bypass Nigeria’s often congested coastal terminals entirely, a logistical advantage few competitors in the sector can match.

His financial reach now extends well beyond cocoa. Through his company, Ogunsua holds 3.43 billion shares in FCMB Group, a position valued at approximately $30 million as of August 2026, making his family a principal shareholder in the bank.

That equity stake has placed him among the top 30 richest investors active on the Nigerian Exchange, a striking rise for a businessman whose introduction to commodities trading began modestly.

According to reports, Ogunsua learned the trade from his mother, who sold small quantities of cocoa beans while he was still an undergraduate at the old Ondo State University in Ado-Ekiti.

The business has since become a family enterprise. His son, Adekola, now directs operations and logistics, while Tejumade Ogunsua oversees business development, extending a trading legacy into its next generation.

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