Nigeria records $1.345bn non-oil export in Q1 2023—NEPC

Nigeria recorded earnings of $1.345 billion from the export of about 167 products in the same quarter. The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr. Ezra Yakusak said that Ninety-Seven Countries, spread among five (5) continents of the world, imported Nigerian products during the period under review. “The top 5 countries that imported from Nigeria are Brazil, China, Japan, India and the Netherlands. Regrettably, no African country made the top 10 non-oil export destinations. We believe that the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will change this Trade trajectory,” he stated. Yakusaksaid that during “the period under review, six hundred and fifty-eight (658) companies participated in the export of various products.

The Director-General said this in Abuja, while presenting the first quarter progress report on non-oil performance for 2023 at a press briefing. Mr Yakusak said the amount is an increase of 8.50 per cent over the 1.249 billion dollars recorded in the first quarter of 2022. According to him, “A total number of 167 products were exported in the 1st quarter of 2023, these products range from manufactured, semi-processed, solid minerals and raw agricultural commodities. “Just like last year, the first quarter also shows that Nigerian products are gradually shifting from its traditional export of raw agricultural commodities to the export of semi-processed and manufactured goods.”

While giving a breakdown of the top-ten products exported in the first quarter of 2023, Mr Yakusak stated that Urea, Cocoa Beans, Sesame Seed, Soya Beans/meal and Cashew nuts/kernels were among the top five. “A total of 618,184.06 metric tonnes of products worth 75.829 million dollars were exported to 12 ECOWAS countries in the period under review. You may need to note that this figure is 15.6% increase over the 1st quarter exports of 2022. Of the ten top export companies, Indorama-Eleme Fertiliser and Chemical Limited took the lead with $182.804 million in terms of value while Dangote Fertiliser Limited recorded the second-highest value of $144,089,083.49 respectively,” he said. A total of 30 banks participated in the issuance of 5786 NXPs for the first quarter of 2023 with Zenith Bank PLC processing the highest NXP values at 37.42%, United Bank of Africa (UBA) Plc and First Bank of Nigeria with 11.494% and 10.06% respectively.” Meanwhile Brazil, China and Japan top the list of Nigerian non-oil export destinations for the first quarter of 2023.