President Bola Tinubu has ordered an immediate six-month suspension of raw shea nut exports.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced the directive at a multi-stakeholder meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, said the temporary ban was designed to curb informal trade, secure raw materials for local processors, and expand Nigeria’s market share in the global shea economy.
Despite accounting for nearly 40 per cent of global shea production, Nigeria currently captures less than one per cent of the $6.5 billion industry.
“This is not an anti-trade policy but a pro-value addition policy,” Shettima declared. “Our target is to generate $300 million annually in the short term and increase that tenfold by 2027. This is about industrialisation, rural transformation, gender empowerment and expanding Nigeria’s global trade footprint.”
Closing the Loophole
The ban comes against the backdrop of a damning assessment of Nigeria’s shea value chain, which showed that more than 90,000 metric tonnes of raw shea are lost annually to informal cross-border trade, while domestic processors operate at just 35–50 per cent capacity despite the installed potential of 160,000 metric tonnes.
With regional neighbours such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo already restricting raw shea exports to protect their industries, Nigeria has been left vulnerable as a free-for-all zone for opportunistic foreign buyers.
Agriculture Minister Senator Abubakar Kyari warned that without corrective action, the country risked losing billions in revenue while disempowering the rural women who form the backbone of shea picking and processing.
“Shea is one of the few commodities where Nigeria has both a comparative and absolute advantage,” Kyari explained. “With over five million hectares of wild-growing shea trees, we have the natural endowment to dominate not only in production but also in value-added processing.”
Women at the Core
The government has also framed the policy as a gender empowerment tool. Nearly 90 per cent of pickers and processors of shea are women, making the sector a key driver of rural livelihoods.
By securing domestic supply for local processors, the Tinubu administration hopes to create more jobs, boost rural incomes, and protect millions of women from being sidelined by illicit trade.
“By protecting the shea industry, we are protecting livelihoods, dignity and opportunity for millions of our women,” Shettima stressed.
Looking Outward
The policy is not just inward-looking. Shettima revealed that Nigeria is negotiating market access with Brazil for its shea butter and oil, with agreements expected to be finalised within three months.
If successful, this could open new export destinations for value-added products, aligning with Nigeria’s Zero Oil Plan to diversify revenue streams away from crude oil dependence.
The Bigger Picture
With the global shea market projected to grow from $6.5 billion today to $9 billion by 2030, Nigeria has a narrow window to move from the margins to the centre.
The six-month ban, subject to review, may prove a litmus test of Tinubu’s industrialisation agenda: can Nigeria finally stop being a warehouse of raw commodities and instead become a refinery of wealth?
