Despite economic headwinds which has continued to characterised the economy in 2024, Nigeria reportedly earned $5.456 billion from the non- oil sector, says the Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Mrs. Nonye Ayeni disclosed on Friday. The council attribut- ed the feat, to collective collaboration with other relevant agencies, adding that the development also underscores the economic diversification policy of the current administration. She said the $5.456 bil- lion figure marks a signif- icant increase of 20.77 per cent (938.442 million) com- pared to the recorded fig- ure of $4.517 billion of 2023.
She attributed the feat to the “Active diversification of the economy through the non-oil sector with empha- sis on promoting agricul- ture, solid minerals, and manufacturing as well as increased production in energy, agricultural, and solid mineral sectors.” She further added that “The positive impact of the current effort by the Feder- al Government to enhance trade through effective pol- icy implementation (both fiscal and monetary) under the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which focuses on diversifying the economic base of the coun- try. In addition, participa- tion in trade agreements driven by the Honourable Minister of Trade and In- vestment, Dr Jumoke Odu- wole, has helped to open up new markets for Nige- rian products.”
According to her, other enabling factors which aid- ed the figure included the current flagship campaign, #doubleyourexport, Export 35 redefined, increased ad- vocacy, strategic collabo- rations, and partnerships, among others, have con- tributed significantly to the increase. In addition, she cited global economy’s recovery from previous downturns which increased demand for Nigerian exports, fur- ther boosting export per- formance. Ayeni noted there was also an increase in the vol- ume of agricultural com- modities as non-oil export returns showed that 7.291 million metric tonnes of exportable products were exported in the period un- der review “More importantly, the result for 2024 would have been much more consider- ing that the volume of In- formal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) represents a rea- sonable percentage of our exports,” she said.
During the year under review, Nigeria exported a total of 246 distinct prod- ucts. The exports spanned manufactured, semi-pro- cessed goods, industrial extracts, and agricultural commodities. Based on information re- ceived from Pre-shipment Inspection Agents (PIAs), of the top 20 products and commodities exported in the year 2024, cocoa beans, urea/fertiliser, sesame seed, cashew nuts/ker- nels, aluminum ingots, co- coa butter, copper ingots, soya beans/meal, gold Dore and hibiscus flower were top of the list. “Interestingly, cocoa butter, among other prod- ucts, has experienced a notable surge in exporta- tion, propelling it into the top 10 ranking of exported products. This upturn may be attributed to increased global demand, improved production processes, en- hanced market access to key importing countries, and targeted trade policies promoting value-added products.
“The top commodity in terms of total non-oil ex- port, accounting for 30.55 per cent in percentage val- ue was cocoa beans, fol- lowed by urea/fertilizer at 15.74 per cent while sesame seeds contributed 8.50 per cent of the total export- ed products respectively. There are quite some other exportable products that have contributed signifi- cantly to this huge volume of exports”, Ayeni noted. Of the top 20 export- ing companies in Nigeria, Indorama Eleme Fertilis- er and Chemical Limit- ed and Starlink Global & Ideal Limited secured the foremost position with $475,309,887.26, repre- senting 8.71 per cent and $456,740,920.00, represent- ing 8.37 per cent respec- tively
