President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu banned the export of raw shea nuts from the country. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Nigeria announced a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts in order to make trade of the nuts more lucrative and boost local production of shea butter.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the export ban on Tuesday, as Vice President Kashim Shettima told a meeting of shareholders that the move would “transform Nigeria from an exporter of raw shea nut to a global supplier of refined shea butter, oil and other derivatives.”
”It is about industrialization, rural transformation, gender empowerment and expanding Nigeria’s global trade footprint,” Shettima said.
The shea nuts are used to make many beauty creams as they are harvested from trees to be crushed, roasted, boiled to extract its oil to produce the butter for cosmetics. The butter is also used in the production of certain sweets.
Shettima speculated that it would grow Nigeria’s earnings from the fruit of shea nut trees from $65 million to $300 million annually.
“Nigeria produces nearly 40% of the global shea product, yet we account for only 1% of the market share of $6.5 billion,” he said, adding it was “unacceptable.”
Shettima further said the move was not “an anti-trade policy but a pro-value addition policy designed to secure raw materials for our processing factories and enabling industries run at full capacity thereby boosting rural income and jobs for our people.”
A lot of the harvest comes from villages in central Nigeria and farmers are often exploited by businessmen who travel to these areas to buy it cheaply, according to agriculture expert Ahmed Ismail.
”A lot of poor people who grow the crop and rely on it for sustenance are struggling to get by because of a lack of regulation, which means they get so little despite its high value internationally,” he said.
”I went to a village and I saw shea nuts in heaps and when I asked, they said someone from the city comes to buy and take them away,” he added.
Ismail believes this ban will help provide more jobs locally and also enhance income for the government.
