‘Shea Nut Export Ban Hurts Farmers’ Livelihoods, Investor Confidence’

Nigeria’s six-month prohibition connected earthy shea seed exports has sparked concerns implicit marketplace disruptions, with shea seed prices plummeting by implicit 30 per cent and existing export contracts facing imaginable default, says the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE).

The director-general of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf stated this yesterday, adding that, the national government’s six-month prohibition connected earthy shea seed exports is intended to accelerate home worth summation and enactment Nigeria’s industrialization drive.

“While the extremity is laudable, the instantaneous implementation of the prohibition has created terrible disruptions successful the shea seed worth chain—hurting farmers, aggregators, exporters, and logistics providers. This little argues for a phased, consultative modulation model to safeguard capitalist confidence, sphere hard-won gains successful non-oil exports, and guarantee inclusive, market-driven growth,” helium stated.

According to Yusuf, Nigeria holds important imaginable successful the planetary shea seed market, accounting for an estimated 40 per cent of planetary production. Moving up the worth concatenation done section processing could make jobs, overseas exchange, and concern capacity.

“However, argumentation credibility is crucial: abrupt bans connected exports with contiguous effect present uncertainty, heighten risk, and undermine capitalist confidence—deterring concern not conscionable successful shea but crossed the broader non-oil export sector.”

He noted that, “abrupt argumentation shifts nonstop antagonistic signals to investors, who whitethorn comprehend higher argumentation hazard successful Nigeria. The advancement made successful non-oil exports of implicit $3 cardinal successful the archetypal 4th of 2025, could beryllium reversed if assurance declines.”

Yusuf urged the authorities to follow a phased modulation attack by introducing wide timelines for phasing retired earthy exports, allowing businesses to set operations.

He called for enhanced competitiveness of section processing by addressing lstructural challenges specified arsenic powerfulness supply, logistics, infrastructure, financing to alteration processors to acquisition earthy materials astatine marketplace prices and inactive vie internationally.

He besides noted that farmers should seizure just marketplace worth for their produce, sustaining agrarian livelihoods and incentivizing production, saying that determination should beryllium constitution of regular consultative platforms involving farmers, processors, exporters, and financiers.

CPPE CEO explained that “local worth summation is simply a captious measurement toward Nigeria’s economical diversification, but it indispensable beryllium pursued successful a mode that is strategic, inclusive, and market-friendly.

“A phased modulation supported by structural reforms volition support agrarian incomes, prolong non-oil export growth, and guarantee that processors thrive connected competitiveness alternatively than connected a authorities of subsidized earthy materials.

Policy stableness and stakeholder engagement are indispensable to achieving a win-win result for farmers, processors, and the broader economy, Yusuf emphasized.