Nigeria's Shea Nut Export Ban Threatens Non-Oil Sector Growth

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has expressed concern that the federal government's suspension of raw shea nut exports could derail Nigeria's non-oil export sector, which recorded more than $3 billion in the first quarter of 2025. The sudden implementation of the six-month ban has created significant disruptions across the shea nut value chain, with negative implications for farmers, exporters, and the wider economy. CPPE's CEO, Muda Yusuf, warned that the policy could reverse the progress made in non-oil exports and threaten thousands of jobs in cultivation, aggregation, logistics, and trade in sheanuts.

Key Takeaways:

• The federal government's suspension of raw shea nut exports has created significant disruptions across the shea nut value chain, with negative implications for farmers, exporters, and the wider economy.
• The ban threatens thousands of jobs in cultivation, aggregation, logistics, and trade in sheanuts, and could reverse the progress made in non-oil exports, which recorded more than $3 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
• The policy effectively penalises primary producers to benefit processors, creating a zero-sum scenario rather than a shared-growth model, and erodes incomes of farmers and aggregators by over 30 percent since the ban.
• Existing export contracts face potential default, exposing exporters to legal and reputational risks, and loan defaults loom large as many exporters rely on bank financing for procurement and aggregation.
• CPPE urged the federal government to adopt a phased transition framework rather than an immediate ban, and to address structural challenges, such as power supply, logistics, infrastructure, and financing, that constrain local processors from competing globally.
• The group recommended that exporters be allowed to fulfill existing contracts to avoid defaults and preserve Nigeria's credibility in international trade, and that regular consultative platforms involving farmers, processors, exporters, and financiers be established to promote inclusivity and ensure that farmers receive fair value for their produce.

Statistics:

• Nigeria accounts for about 40 percent of global shea nut production.
• The non-oil export sector recorded more than $3 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
• Hea nut prices have fallen by over 30 percent since the ban.
• Nigeria's non-oil export sector is threatened by the policy's potential to derail export growth and threaten thousands of jobs.

Sources:

• August 26, President Bola Tinubu's directive to suspend raw shea nut exports for six months.
• Muda Yusuf's statement on Sunday, August 2025.
• The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE).
• No specific dates mentioned in the original text for other sources.