Nigeria’s non-oil exports reach $1.7 billion, as FG releases list of top commodities
- The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has revealed the list of top non-oil exports for January to March 2025
- This list shows that certain products are consolidating their positions, while a few others are coming into the list
- Based on this report, Cocoa is rising to become Nigeria's top non-oil export, with almost half of the total non-oil exports originating from it
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Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.
Nigeria’s attempt to diversify the economy away from crude oil is paying off, and recent data released by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) shows a major surge recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
The data released on Monday shows that non-oil exports for the quarter reached an impressive $1.791 billion.
This marks an impressive 24.7% growth from the $1.436 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
Source: AFP
Speaking at a press briefing, Executive Director of the council, Nonye Ayeni, explained that the growth can be seen both in the value and the volume.
Year on year, the volume of non-oil exports grew from 1.937 million metric tonnes (MT) in Q1 2024 to 2.416 million metric tonnes in 2025.
This represents a 19.82% growth in the volume, year-on-year.
NEPC unveils list of top commodities, exporters
According to the NEPC boss, the major exports consist of manufactured goods and semi-processed items across agricultural commodities and industrial extracts.
At the top of the list is Cocoa and several of its derivatives like cocoa butter, cocoa cake, and cocoa liquor. Together, they account for over 45% of the total non-oil exports, the PUNCH reports.
Second on the list is Urea and Fertiliser, accounting for 19.32% of total non-oil exports.
Cashew nuts are also up on the list, now accounting for about 5.81% of Nigeria’s non-oil exports.
Expectedly, the companies dealing in cocoa products and fertilisers are Nigeria’s top exporters.
According to the NEPC Boss, Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Fertilizer Chemical Limited remains the top non-oil exporter with 12.07% of the total non-oil exports for the quarter.
The next is Starlink Global and Ideal Limited, with 10% of total non-oil exports.
NEPC reports 20.79% growth in non-oil exports
Recall that NEPC had reported a total of $5.456 billion in non-oil exports for the whole of 2024, an impressive 20.79% growth from the previous year.
This, according to the council, is a validation of the government’s diversification efforts away from dependence on crude oil revenues.
Marketers have projected 2027 as the year Nigeria will become a net exporter of refined petroleum products.
CBN shares list of top non-oil exporters
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria released the list of some of Nigeria's top non-oil exporters in October 2024.
Source: AFP
At the top of the list were Dangote Fertilizer Ltd. and Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemical Ltd, with urea and fertilisers as their major exports.
Dangote Fertiliser Ltd accounted for 8.72%, while Indorama accounted for 18.97%. Also on the list was Outspan Nigeria Ltd. (8.45%) with its cocoa exports, Starlink Global & Ideal Ltd (7.35%) with dairy products, and Olatunde International Ltd. (5.96%) with cocoa bean exports.
CPPE reacts to export restriction bill
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has raised strong objections to a proposed bill by the National Assembly that mandates 30% local value addition before raw materials can be exported from Nigeria.
The private think tank organisation said the move by the National Assembly could hurt Nigerian exporters and cost thousands of jobs.
CPPE added that the bill ignored critical challenges encountered by manufacturers in Nigeria.
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Source: Legit.ng
