Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings decreased marginally to $4.5 billion in 2023.
Nonye Ayeni, Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, released the data during a media briefing on the non-oil export sector’s performance report for 2023.
This is a $300 million, or 6.3%, dip from the $4.8 billion in revenue accrued to government coffers for 2022.
Nonye ascribed the fall to a variety of factors, including a weak currency rate, an increase in informal commerce, political instability in adjacent countries, and export rejections, among others.
She said, “In 2022, there was a $4.8 billion in terms of value. And in 2023, there was a marginal decline to $4.5bn.
“Reasons for the decline are not far-fetched. They include export rejects, which we are already working on. We talked about the election and the new government that came in.
“Also, political issues in neighboring countries like Niger Republic. A lot of our products go to the West African countries and we see what’s happening in terms of political issues, instability among the neighboring countries, and generally economic recession, and then exchange rate.”
Nonye further highlighted an increase in the volume of trade and export products, adding that 273 different products were exported of which urea, cocoa beans, cashew nut/kernels, sesame seed, and soya beans/meal were top on the list.
“In 2023, there were 6.68, million metric tons in terms of volume that was exported.
“And then if you look at the number of products increased by 273. So holistically, it’s really not a decline,” she added.
The reduced non-oil export revenue followed years of improved receipts based on the government initiative to diversify the economy from oil exports. Despite these efforts, the target to further grow the country’s non-oil exports has suffered several economic downturns.
