The Federal Government has declared that the era of exporting raw shea nuts while importing finished products must come to an end. It said this position is backed by a bold domestic policy push that has already upended the country’s shea trade in the past eight months.
The Minister of State for Industry, John Enoh, made the assertion when he delivered Nigeria’s address at the Shea 2026: Beyond Borders conference in Accra, Ghana, on Monday.
Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture (in the Office of the Vice President) and Head of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, Marion Moon, revealed details of the engagement in a statement she signed on Tuesday titled ‘Nigeria Steps Forward at Shea 2026 to Shape the Future of the Global Value Chain’.
The conference, convened by the Global Shea Alliance from April 27 to 29 in Accra, was formally opened by the Vice President of Ghana, Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang, and brought together governments, industry leaders, and development partners to align on trade, investment, sustainability, and value addition across the global shea value chain.
Nigeria attended as a Guest of Honour through the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, alongside the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, and the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Enoh.
Enoh said, “The era of exporting raw nuts while importing finished products must come to an end. The future lies in industrialisation, value addition, and regional integration.”
The minister described the transformation Nigeria is seeking as a shift “from the export of raw commodities to higher-value processing, job creation, and expanded participation in global markets,” to be advanced through the Nigeria Industrial Policy, with targeted measures to support domestic processing, strengthen market systems, and attract investment into value-added production.
In August 2025, the Tinubu administration announced an initial six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts. It said the move is a pro-value addition measure designed to force domestic processing and unlock a larger share of a global market from which Africa’s largest shea producer has, for decades, captured almost nothing.
Nigeria produces between 350,000 and 500,000 tonnes of shea nuts annually, nearly 40 per cent of the global supply. Yet, it captures only about one per cent of the $6.5bn global shea market because the bulk of its output is exported raw.
Processed shea butter, used in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals, sells for 10 to 20 times the price of raw nuts, a price differential that has effectively transferred the bulk of the value Nigeria generates in the field to refiners and manufacturers in Europe and Asia.
The global shea market is projected to expand to nearly $9bn by 2030. The Federal Government says it aspires to scale processed shea earnings tenfold from an estimated $65m currently to $300m in the near term, with potential growth to $3bn by 2027.
On February 26, 2026, President Tinubu extended the export ban for a further year, moving the deadline to the end of February 2027. Under the extension, all shea exports must pass through the Nigeria Commodity Exchange framework, and previous exemptions allowing direct shipment of raw nuts have been removed.
The initial export ban triggered a 33 per cent drop in domestic raw shea nut prices within three days, inflicting financial shockwaves on rural farmers and collectors who rely on sales as a primary income source.
Available data show that domestic processing capacity stands at around 160,000 tonnes but operates at only 35 to 50 per cent utilisation due to unreliable power, poor infrastructure, inadequate technology, and limited access to finance.
Nigeria is not the only West African country protecting its shea nuts. In September 2024, Burkina Faso imposed a ban on shea, followed by Mali in October that year.
Côte d’Ivoire and Togo halted exports of shea kernels in January and April 2025, respectively, while Ghana phased its ban, announcing in July 2025 that it would gradually ban raw shea exports by 2026.
At the Accra conference, Nigeria’s Ali Saidu of Salid Agriculture Nigeria Limited was appointed the new Chair of the Global Shea Alliance. According to Moon, it is the first time a Nigerian has assumed the leadership of the global body that governs the international coordination of the shea industry.
The PFSCU said Nigeria’s participation “underscores its commitment to regional coordination among producing countries, ensuring that Africa captures greater value from one of its most strategic indigenous commodities.”
The statement also highlighted that shea is a naturally occurring agroforestry resource, and organising millions of dispersed smallholders, especially women, for collective action is difficult amid low literacy and trust deficits.
It said rural women constituted approximately 95 per cent of the shea collection and initial processing workforce as of early 2025. The PFSCU said the expansion and protection of the shea parklands support afforestation, climate resilience, and women’s livelihoods.
