President Bola Tinubu has ordered a six-month suspension of raw shea nut exports to strengthen local processing and reposition Nigeria in the global shea industry.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who conveyed the directive during a multi-stakeholder meeting at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, said the decision was reached to protect domestic processors and secure raw materials for industries currently running below installed capacity.

“This is not an anti-trade policy but a pro-value addition policy designed to secure raw materials for our processing factories and enabling industries run at full capacity, thereby boosting rural income and jobs for our people,” Shettima said. “It will transform Nigeria from an exporter of raw shea nut to a global supplier of refined shea butter, oil and other derivatives. This is about industrialisation, rural transformation, gender empowerment and expanding Nigeria’s global trade footprint.”

According to him, Nigeria produces nearly 40 per cent of global shea products but accounts for only one per cent of the $6.5 billion international market. He stressed that the new policy is expected to generate at least $300 million annually in the short term, with prospects of a tenfold increase by 2027.

Shettima also disclosed that Nigeria is working with Brazil to secure access for Nigerian shea butter and oil in the Brazilian market within three months.

He added, “By protecting the shea industry, we are protecting livelihoods, dignity and opportunity for millions of our women. We are not closing doors, we are opening better ones.”

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, explained that despite producing about 350,000 metric tonnes of shea annually, Nigeria loses over 90,000 metric tonnes to informal cross-border trade each year.

He said the country’s processors currently operate at only 35–50 per cent of their 160,000-metric-tonne installed capacity.

“Neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo have already imposed restrictions to protect their industries, leaving Nigeria as an outlier and a hotspot for opportunistic buying,” Kyari said.

“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.”

The minister emphasised that more than 90 per cent of pickers and processors in the sector are women, making investment in shea critical to women’s empowerment, rural job creation and sustainable livelihoods.

He added that the temporary ban is expected to secure domestic supply, curb informal trade, and strengthen Nigeria’s transition from exporting raw shea kernels to exporting high-value derivatives such as butter, olein and stearin.