Nigeria has banned the export of raw shea nuts, commonly used in beauty products, for six months to boost its economy.
Shea butter is a natural extract of the shea nut and is widely used in cosmetic items due to its moisturising properties.
The country produces around 40% of global raw shea, yet accounts for only 1% share of the US$6.5bn market, said Nigeria Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“This is unacceptable,” he said, announcing the new government directive.
“We are projected to earn about $300m annually in the short term, and by 2027, there will be a ten-fold increase.”
Shettima said the move was 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”.
The move is said to “transform Nigeria from an exporter of raw shea nut to a global supplier of refined shea butter, oil and other derivatives,” he added.
At the same time, Nigeria and Brazil have agreed to prioritise access for Nigerian shea butter and oil into the Brazilian market.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said: “Nigeria produces an estimated 350,000 metric tonnes of shea annually across 30 states, with the potential to reach nearly 900,000 metric tonnes”.
Around 90,000 metric tonnes of raw shea are lost each year in informal cross-border trade, he said, and Nigeria’s processors operate at only 35% to 50% capacity despite capacity for processing 160,000 metric tonnes
The country is “an outlier” compared to its “regional neighbours, such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Togo”, who have already imposed restrictions to protect their industries, he added.
“Shea is one of the few commodities where our country holds both a comparative and absolute advantage,” said Kyari.
“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.
“Shea is also identified in our ‘Zero Oil Plan’ as a strategic non-oil export.
“With a projected global market growth from $6.5bn today to $9bn by 2030, Nigeria can position itself at the heart of this expansion.”
Burkina Faso, the third-biggest shea producer behind Nigeria and Mali, imposed a temporary ban on shea kernel exports in 2024 in a bid to boost local industrial processing of the ingredient.
Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo have also imposed restrictions on the ingredient, which is used in food as well as cosmetic products.