President Tinubu orders immediate ban of raw Shea nut export

President Bola Tinubu has ordered temporary ban on export of raw Shea Nuts, with immediate effect.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, made this known at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Kyari, who explained how the nation stands to benefit from the ban, regretted that despite being the world’s largest producer of shea nuts, contributing nearly 40 percent of global supply, Nigeria captures less than one percent of the multi-billion-dollar global shea economy.

“Nigeria produces an estimated 350,000 metric tonnes of shea annually across 30 states, with the potential to reach nearly 900,000 metric tonnes. Yet our share of the 6.5-billion-dollar global market is less than one percent,” Kyari said.

“The Rapid Assessment of the Shea Value Chain, conducted by the PFSCU, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, provided the evidence that shaped this Presidential directive.”

According to the Minister, the assessment showed that over 90,000 metric tonnes of raw shea are lost each year in informal cross-border trade, even as Nigeria’s “processors operate at only 35 to 50 percent capacity despite a national installed capacity of 160,000 metric tonnes.”

Senator Kyari explained that while “regional neighbours such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Togo have already imposed restrictions to protect their industries,” Nigeria is vulnerably left “as the outlier and a hotspot for opportunistic and unregulated buying.

Underscoring the enormous potential of the shea trade for Nigeria, the Minister noted that the shea sector “could generate more than 300 million dollars annually in the short term and position Nigeria to capture a significant share of the projected nine-billion-dollar global market by 2030.

“Shea is one of the few commodities where our country holds both a comparative and absolute advantage. With over five million hectares of wild-growing shea trees, Nigeria has the natural endowment to dominate not only in production but also in value-added processing.

“Shea is also identified in our Zero Oil Plan as a strategic non-oil export. With a projected global market growth from 6.5 billion dollars today to nine billion dollars by 2030, Nigeria can position itself at the heart of this expansion,” Kyari noted.

The Minister noted that since 90 percent of pickers and processors of shea are women, investment in this value chain would directly translate into women’s empowerment, rural job creation, and sustainable livelihoods.

This, he said, aligns with the Tinubu administration’s focus on women empowerment and the pledge by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security “not only to support the rural population but also to create a pathway for national economic development.”

Senator Kyari continued: “The reasons for this presidential directive are clear. Without corrective action, Nigeria risked becoming a raw depot for opportunistic and illicit buyers, undermining our processors’ capacities, disempowering rural women, and forfeiting billions in potential export revenues.

“The PFSCU rapid assessment, which engaged over 2,000 pickers and 65 processors, confirmed the urgent need for action. Informal exports, estimated at 90,000 metric tonnes annually, are draining our domestic supply.

“With neighbours like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo already restricting raw exports, Nigeria risked being left as the region’s raw depot. The benefits of the temporary ban are equally compelling.

“It will secure domestic supply, enable processors to operate at full capacity, curb informal trade, and lay the foundation for Nigeria to transition from exporting raw kernels to exporting high-value derivatives such as butter, olein, and stearin