Nigeria can earn extra $3.9bn from untapped export markets – Report

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

Nigeria has a fresh opportunity to rake in an additional $3.9 billion in export earnings if it fully taps the rising global demand for high-value commodities, the International Trade Centre (ITC) has revealed.

According to new figures from the ITC’s Export Potential Map, the country’s total export potential stands at $7.6 billion, largely driven by strong prospects in cocoa, cashew nuts, urea and an increasingly promising new frontier, which is coffee.

The assessment shows that cocoa remains Nigeria’s strongest export performer, posting the biggest gap between potential and actual export performance. ITC estimates that cocoa alone carries an unrealised export opportunity of $749 million, accounting for 19 per cent of the nation’s untapped capacity. Cashew nuts (in shell) and urea also remain top-performing products with high global competitiveness.

A major highlight of the report is the emergence of unroasted, non-decaffeinated coffee (HS 090111) as one of Nigeria’s best bets for export diversification. ITC lists coffee alongside copper cathodes and frozen fish as the country’s most promising new export-growth products.

The agency noted that global buyers continue to expand purchases of coffee, adding that Nigeria “has closest export links with Japan,” while the United States holds the highest demand potential.

Japan currently imports $1.4 billion of this product annually, Germany $4 billion, and the United States $5.8 billion, all at zero-percent tariff for Nigerian exporters.

Other major markets such as the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium, importing $843 million, $2.2 billion and $1.7 billionrespectively, also place no tariff barriers on Nigerian coffee. Only Korea imposes a modest 2 per cent tariff.

ITC further stated that Nigeria could also expand exports of dried Vigna mungo/radiata beans, which it described as among the easiest to reach, while global demand remains strong for jewellery of precious metals.

Reacting to the report, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, said coffee remains a profitable cash crop capable of boosting the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

“With the right investment and policy support, coffee can become one of Nigeria’s biggest non-oil revenue drivers,” he said.