The Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the National Bureau of Statistics have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve the tracking and documentation of informal cross-border trade, which has cost the country up to $31.8m in unrecorded transactions.
The agreement, signed in Abuja, seeks to establish a framework for capturing export data from informal trade routes across the country.
This initiative comes amid revelations that over $31.8m worth of goods were informally exported in some months of 2024 without official records.
A statement by the NEPC Head of Corporate Communications, Ndubueze Okeke, on Wednesday, described the signing of the MoU as a significant step in plugging data gaps in Nigeria’s export records and improving policy planning.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Executive Director of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, said informal cross-border trade is not a distant or marginal activity but a vital part of the economy that supports livelihoods, strengthens regional supply chains, and contributes significantly to national and continental economic resilience.
She disclosed that council offices across border states—including Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Lagos, Ogun, and Adamawa recorded high levels of undocumented export activities.
She revealed that 1.6 million bags of onions left the country through informal trade routes without any official record, stressing that the council’s state offices had tracked these movements during routine monitoring exercises.
Ayeni noted that the partnership with the NBS would help bridge the data gap in Nigeria’s trade statistics and improve policy planning for non-oil exports.
“Existing trade data primarily capture activities within the formal sector, offering limited visibility into informal export trade transactions, despite their significant volume and economic impact. In 2024, formal export trade records indicate that 7.291 million metric tonnes of non-oil products valued at $5.456bn were exported from Nigeria. This figure excludes informal export trade data,” she added.
According to her, “Informal export trade representing millions of dollars in goods and services has remained largely outside our official records. Informal export trade data collected by NEPC State offices from major corridors in Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Lagos, Ogun, and Adamawa reveal transactions valued at over $31.8m in some months of 2024.
She disclosed that reports from the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, reveal that over 1.6 million bags worth of the commodity were traded informally to neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Cote D Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, and Niger Republic.
Regrettably, she noted that these impressive achievements were not captured in the national export trade statistics, thus portending real implications for economic planning for the country.
According to her, “It weakens Nigeria’s voice in regional and global trade negotiations, it denies informal traders the recognition and support they need to thrive as well as diminishes Nigeria’s economic potential, especially the vital contributions of women, youth, and MSMES”.
Ayeni explained that the collaboration between the Council and the NBS was borne out of the desire to correct the imbalance and capture the full spectrum of Nigeria’s export trade activity.
Responding, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran noted that the meeting of key players from national and sub-national agencies, regional institutions, international development partners, and the organized private sector, reflects the strong spirit of collaboration required to address one of the most pressing challenges in Nigeria’s trade data architecture, capturing and integrating data from informal trade and trade in services into the national framework.
Adeniran was of the view that the data gap severely impedes evidence-based policymaking, limits our capacity to engage in fair trade negotiations, and undermines the accuracy of our macroeconomic indicators, adding that traditional trade measurement systems have long focused on formal, large-scale transactions while overlooking the vibrancy of informal trade routes. This must be corrected if we are to align our economic statistics with reality.
He disclosed that informal trade in Sub-Saharan Africa contributes between 20 to 40 per cent of intra-African trade, with Nigeria accounting for a significant share due to its long and porous borders.
“These are not just gaps in data; rather, they represent gaps in our understanding of economic life and the well-being of millions of Nigerians who engage in these activities daily”, he added.
The collaboration with NEPC, Adeniran said, presents a timely opportunity to update and harness current trends, identify new opportunities, and design data-informed strategies to support trade formalisation, enhance competitiveness, and ultimately foster inclusive economic growth.
This initiative, he pointed out, is a strategic intervention that will enhance institutional capacities, promote regulatory coherence, and position Nigeria as a regional leader in trade statistics.
“Capturing informal trade data will also help us design smarter border policies, enhance food security, facilitate small and medium enterprise development, and monitor regional integration efforts,” he added.
