The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has warned that Nigeria’s record non-oil export performance may prove difficult to sustain unless the country significantly increases production and deepens value addition.
 
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, said Nigeria had recorded strong growth in the volume, value, product range and destinations of its non-oil exports, but stressed that inadequate production capacity remained a major constraint to unlocking the country’s full export potential.
 
Speaking at the ninth Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG) in Lagos, Ayeni said value addition alone could not sustain export growth without deliberate efforts to increase production and strengthen backward integration.
 
She said Nigeria possessed the resources needed to expand production, including large areas of arable land, but lacked a sufficiently coordinated strategy to fully exploit them for export-oriented production.
 
According to her, Nigeria’s ability to compete with countries such as Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in commodities including cocoa and cashew would depend on its capacity to increase output and provide manufacturers with sufficient raw materials for processing.
 
Ayeni said the country’s non-oil export performance in 2025 was its highest on record in terms of volume and value, with 281 products exported to 120 countries.
She added that the share of value-added products increased from 48.39 per cent to 50.4 per cent.
 
However, she warned that the gains would need to be backed by increased production if they were to translate into sustained export growth.
 
The NEPC boss said the council was encouraging manufacturers and exporters to embrace backward integration while working with state governments and other stakeholders to increase production of commodities for which individual states have comparative and competitive advantages.

She also stressed the importance of meeting international standards, noting that Nigerian exporters would struggle to benefit fully from growing international demand if their products failed to meet quality requirements.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, said Nigeria’s export performance showed progress but added that the next challenge was to translate the growth into increased manufacturing and value-added exports.

According to her, exports to 36 African countries generated $478.2 million, demonstrating that Nigerian products have markets beyond the country.

She said Nigeria must increasingly move away from exporting raw materials towards processing, manufacturing and value addition to capture a larger share of the value created along the production chain.