Zenith Bank Plc is seeking increased local processing and value addition in Nigeria’s non-oil export sector, stressing that the country must move beyond exporting raw commodities to retain more value from its products.

The call was made at the 10th edition of the bank’s International Trade Seminar on Non-Oil Export, held virtually yesterday under the theme, ‘Unlocking Value and Harnessing Growth’.

The seminar brought together policymakers, regulators, exporters, manufacturers, investors and development partners from Africa and beyond to examine ways of strengthening Nigeria’s export capacity, improving trade infrastructure and financing, and expanding the contribution of non-oil exports to economic growth.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank, Dame Adaora Umeoji, said Nigeria’s rising export figures must translate into lasting economic value.

“Our theme, ‘Unlocking Value and Harnessing Growth’, is not just a slogan. It speaks to the opportunities before us and the need to translate our collective efforts into sustainable economic value,” she said.

Umeoji noted that Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached a record $6.1 billion in 2025, representing an 11.5 per cent increase from $5.46 billion recorded in 2024 and a significant rise from $612 million a decade earlier.

She said the bank had commenced development of the SMARTAfCFTA portal in partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, while its integration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System was helping to ease cross-border business for its customers.

“Wherever our exporters need to reach, Zenith Bank will reach with them,” she said.

The Zenith Bank chief executive also called for faster economic growth through greater local production and processing, rather than continued reliance on the export of raw materials.

“As we build on the progress recorded so far, it is important that, as a nation, we accelerate growth by creating more value locally and exporting finished products, rather than just raw materials,” she added.

Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said Nigeria needed deeper trade and investment reforms, a better export environment and wider access to markets across Africa and beyond.

“The question before us now is not simply how to export more, but how to retain more value in Nigeria from everything we export,” Oduwole said.

She said the ministry’s focus was to improve competitiveness, increase processing within Nigeria, connect local businesses to larger markets and ensure that financing, infrastructure and trade systems support business expansion.

Oduwole, who said she assumed the chair of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers in July, noted that Nigeria’s opportunity extended beyond the size of Africa’s market, which she put at more than 1.4 billion people and approximately $3.4 trillion in gross domestic product.

She said Nigeria’s position as an AfCFTA digital trade co-champion could also help the country influence the development of the continental market, particularly as digital trade creates new opportunities for Nigerian businesses.

The minister urged financial institutions to move beyond financing individual export transactions to supporting the broader capacity of exporters, while encouraging businesses to invest in productivity, quality and skills ahead of increased intra-African trade.

Also speaking, the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Fund for Export Development in Africa and immediate past President and Chairman of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, said Africa needed to rethink how it financed its trade and industries.

“The question is whether Africa, and Nigeria within it can build her own internal demand, participate effectively in global supply chains, build the capacity to finance her own trade and industries, and create her own markets,” he said.

Oramah described the theme of the seminar as timely, noting that the changing global economy presented both challenges and opportunities for Africa’s economic advancement. He also commended Zenith Bank for sustaining its advocacy for Nigeria’s non-oil export sector over the past decade.

The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, said the private sector remained central to Africa’s economic transformation.

“The private sector is at the heart of the fundamental restructuring of Africa’s economy that all of us want to see,” Mene said.

He said the success of AfCFTA would ultimately be measured by the extent to which businesses could use the agreement to access new markets, expand investment and increase productive capacity to create jobs across the continent.