The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has stated that the country’s non-oil export grew by 19.59% in the first half of 2025 with about 4.04 million in metric tonnes generating $3.22 billion.

The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer (ED/CEO), NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, revealed this during the Council’s Re-energized Webinar Series 6.0 themed “Strategic Alignment of SMEs for AfCFTA Benefits” which was held over the weekend at the NEPC Headquarters, Abuja.

Ayeni said while the NEPC’s mandate is to promote the development of the non-oil export and help in diversifying the economy away from oil, it has also been working with other stakeholders and exporters which has witnessed a massive improvement and increase in the volume and value of non-oil export.

She called on Nigerian exporters to use the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) platform to market their products to connect 54 countries in Africa with a population of 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. She said the Council, since 2024, has had 629 programs and six Webinars across its offices in the 36 states and six regional offices and has impacted on about 64,000 people across the country.

The AfCFTA is a landmark agreement that aims to create the world’s largest free trade area by linking 54 out of 55 African Union nations to boost intra-African trade and economic development. Launched in January 2021, it seeks to liberalize markets by eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers, facilitating the free movement of goods, services, capital and people and fostering industrialization and structural economic transformation across the continent and the agreement’s goals include creating a single continental market, reducing poverty, promoting local value chains and increasing investment opportunities.

“Let me highlight that the opportunity in oil and non-oil export is very huge. We know that the mandate of the Council is to promote the development of the non-oil export and also to help in diversifying the economy away from oil. The NEPC has been working with other stakeholders, working with our exporters, there has been a massive improvement or increase in the volume and value of non-oil export. And the outlook is very positive and is upward trajectory.

“Last year 2024, we grew by 20.7%. We are not exporters but facilitators and when we say we have that figures, it’s actually to the credit of the exporters. The NEPC and other relevant stakeholders working with us ensure that this has happened. Again, first half of the year (2025), we grew by 19.59% to $3.22 billion, that is also another increase. And in terms of metric tonnes, it was about 4.04 million metric tonnes. Consistently, Nigeria has been doing a whole lot. We’ve been working to improve the volume and value of non-oil export which also align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.

“Why did we have that increase? We did a technical look inside and we found out that the increase came as a result of value addition. The highest non-oil export for 2024 and first half of 2025 is cocoa. In 2023, it was urea and fertilizer. In 2024 and 2025, it’s cocoa. There has been a lot of value addition in cocoa, from cocoa beans to cocoa leaf and others. Cashew is the third and sesame is the fourth. Last year, we export to 11 countries in ECOWAS region and it was about $139 million exported. We also exported to 21 other countries outside ECOWAS, so the volume is huge. This is how big Africa is. We are exporting to Europe, Asia, to America but we have a lot of opportunities within African countries.

“The Ambassador of Namibia walked into our office and had a meeting with the management team and he gave us a shocking news. He said everything that is get from oil palm is demanded in high volume in Namibia, from the leaves to the seed and others. In Nigeria, we just took the oil and throw away everything. AfCFTA opens our eyes and horizon to the opportunities that are inherent in African continent and if we can do interregional trade, that’s the essence of the AfCFTA,” the NEPC boss told Tribune Online.

She added, “We are very intentional about this and also deliberate to look at AfCFTA. AfCFTA promises to be the largest single market in the world connecting 54 countries and have a population of 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. Somebody can just calculate it and imagine the volume of business that this presents. It is a very powerful platform, it’s an opportunity for us all, the exporters, players in the value chain to be able to harness and unlock this opportunity.

“For Nigeria, SMEs are the heart of this opportunity. They account for the majority of our productive base, providing employment, driving innovation, and serving as the backbone of our non-oil economy. To harness AfCFTA’s benefits, we must ensure that our SMEs are not just participants, but winners in this new continental marketplace.

“NEPC stands as your partner in this journey. Together, we can ensure that Nigerian SMEs become the driving force of continental trade, delivering prosperity not just for our businesses but for the nation and Africa at large. I urge us all, Government, Organized Private Sector, financiers and development partners to rally around our SMEs. AfCFTA is not merely a trade agreement; it is a generational opportunity. By aligning strategically, we can ensure that Nigerian enterprises do not just trade in Africa, but lead in Africa.”

Tribune Online reports that Nigerian exporters are also advised to make use of the trade intelligence tools to effectively penetrate the AfCFTA market and avoid costly mistakes by identifying the right markets, understanding trade regulations, analyse competitor strategies and aligning products with demand as the tools provide data-driven insights that reduce risks, improve decision-making and enhance competitiveness across Africa.

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