Nigeria's non-oil exports grew 40% to $5.6 billion in 2022, driven by a central bank scheme to pay bonuses to exporters of processed goods, Governor Godwin Emefiele said on Tuesday.

Africa's biggest crude producer, Nigeria, is trying to diversify away from oil, which accounts for 90% of export earnings. But a decline in production due to crude theft and vandalism of pipelines has hit government finances and dollar inflows, weakening the naira currency.

"The momentum for 2023 is equally showing strong numbers and impressive prospects. In the first quarter of 2023 a total of $1.7 billion was repatriated to the economy," Emefiele told a non-oil summit in the commercial capital Lagos.

Under an ambitious scheme launched last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria is targeting up to $200 billion within five years from value-added exports outside the oil sector.

Exporters are paid a naira bonus if they sell their export earnings at the official forex market. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Louise Heavens)