From Victor Osula, Abuja
Nigeria’s non-oil export sector recorded a major boost in 2025, generating $6.1 billion in revenue, marking an 11.5 percent increase over the $5.4 billion posted in 2024.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mrs Nonye Ayeni, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja, noted that export volume also rose by 10 percent to 8.02 million metric tonnes, from 7.2 million metric tonnes recorded the previous year.
According to Ayeni, Nigeria exported 281 non-oil products to 120 countries in 2025, with the Netherlands, Brazil and India emerging as the top destinations by value.
“Exports to the Netherlands increased by 32.46 percent with products including cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sesame seeds and others, while exports to Brazil grew by 19.07 percent”, she said.
Within Africa, Nigeria exported non-oil products to 36 countries, including 11 ECOWAS member states, amounting to about 1.23 million metric tonnes valued at $272 million. However, this represented a 4.6 percent decline, which Ayeni attributed to the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the regional bloc.
She identified cocoa and its derivatives, urea, cashew, sesame seed, gold dore, aluminium ingots, copper ingots, soya beans and meal, and rubber as the top-performing non-oil export products in 2025.
The NEPC boss added that Indorama Eleme Fertiliser & Chemical Limited, Dangote Fertiliser Limited and Starlink Global and Ideal Ltd ranked as the top exporting firms, accounting for 13.13 percent, 8.41 percent and 8.06 percent respectively among the leading 20 exporters.
Ayeni stressed that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) remains central to Nigeria’s regional trade ambitions, describing it as key to boosting intra-African trade and strengthening the country’s non-oil export growth.
