Nigeria has announced a one-year extension of its ban on the export of raw shea nuts, reinforcing its strategy to shift from raw commodity exports toward domestic processing and value addition.
President Bola Tinubu, in a statement on Thursday, said the move aims to strengthen the country’s internal processing capacity, boost the livelihoods of rural shea producers, and reposition Nigeria’s export profile toward higher-value shea products.
From Raw Nuts to Shea Butter
The government is seeking to transform Nigeria’s shea industry from raw nut exports to processed goods such as shea butter and other derivatives. Officials noted that processed products can fetch up to 20 times more than raw nuts on international markets.
Despite this potential, the transition has been hindered by limited processing infrastructure, a largely informal trade network, and enforcement challenges. Since the initial export moratorium in August 2025, the price of shea nuts has fallen by around a third.
By the close of the 2025 harvest season in December, prices averaged 850 naira (about 63 US cents) per kilogram, according to the Lagos-based AFEX commodities exchange.
Challenges in Production Areas
Nigeria’s shea industry relies heavily on smallholder farmers, especially rural women in the central region, areas that have recently faced security challenges due to extremist activity.
The National Shea Products Association of Nigeria reported that intermediaries who typically transport nuts from farms to markets are leaving the trade because of the ban, resulting in canceled contracts and disrupted supply chains for local producers.
Nigeria Among Global Leaders
With an annual production of roughly 500,000 tons of shea fruit, Nigeria supplies around 40% of the global market, valued at $6.5 billion. Other West African producers, including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast, and Togo, have also adopted export restrictions to encourage domestic processing.
Shea remains in high demand worldwide, used as a cocoa butter substitute and approved in the U.S. for cosmetics and food products. Major international processors such as Bunge Loders Croklaan and AAK AB operate in the region, but much of the processing infrastructure is located outside Nigeria, particularly in Ghana.
New Regulatory Measures
To oversee the shift, President Tinubu has introduced a new export framework managed by the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX).
The framework cancels all previous waivers allowing direct shipment of raw nuts, stipulating that any unprocessed nuts must now be exported solely through the NCX system.
The extension of the shea-nut export ban underscores Nigeria’s ongoing commitment to industrialization, rural development, and capturing greater value from its agricultural resources.
Source: Bloomberg
