🇳🇬 Nigeria Earned $450m From Cashew Export Annually

Happy Tuesday and Welcome to Export Brief. A weekly newsletter with insightful developments and trends on non-oil export trade from Africa's largest economy and from the global stage. If you enjoy EB, share it with friends. 

• ⏲️: This edition is 1453 words, a 4.5-minute read.

IN BRIEF

⚡ Situational awareness: Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) releases the Foreign Trade in Goods statistics for Q2 - 2022.

• Kemi Badenoch MP was appointed the new British Secretary for International Trade. Wishing her the very best in the new role, as we watch out for her key trade priorities.

• Nigeria Earned $450m From Cashew Export Annually ― FG

• Increased Exports to Malaysia, a Big Gain for Nigeria

• Nigeria's Multi-billion Dollars Unexplored Opportunity in Perishables Exports - Expert

NON-OIL EXPORT

1 big brief: Nigeria Eyes $4bn Annually from Cashew Exports

Nigeria's government has disclosed that the country earned over $450 million from the export of cashew sub-sector annually.

Why it matters: Speaking in the nation's capital Abuja recently, at a Four (4) days African Cashew Alliance (ACA) Cashew Conference, Nigeria's Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adebayo, stated the government has continued to pursue deliberate policies to diversify the economy away from its over-dependence on the oil and gas sector.

📊By the numbers: “Nigeria produces about 260,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts annually. Plans are ongoing to raise the annual production capacity of cashew nuts to well over 500,000 metric tonnes. Out of the current production figure of 260,000 metric tonnes, 180,000 metric tonnes are traded as raw cashew nuts. 15,000 metric tonnes are processed into cashew kernels and about 10,000 metric tonnes of the kernel are exported."

• According to ITC data, the share in value in Nigeria's exports of Cashew for 2021 for the top three destination countries of Viet Nam, India and UAE were 82.5%, 16.3% and 0.7% respectively. Exported value in 2021 for the same commodity to the top three destinations were (Viet Nam) $116,925,000, (India) $23,096,000 and (UAE) $1,021,000 respectively.

💬What they're saying: “Nigeria has 15 active processing plants with an estimated capacity of 55,750 metric tonnes and 8 inactive plants with an estimated capacity of 8,500 metric tonnes. New investments are being planned for the development of 6 new plants, with an estimated capacity of 23,910 metric tonnes. This effort is expected to provide over a million direct and indirect employments.” - Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment.

• Cashew production is limited to only about 10 states out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. “The leading state in cashew nuts production in Kogi State. Other states involved in the production of cashew nuts include Abia.

The big picture: The global production of cashew nuts is projected to be about 730,000 metric tonnes and the demand is estimated to be 4,500,000 metric tonnes. The main consuming countries are India and the United States of America. About 55 percent of the world’s cashew nut production is from countries in Africa, Europe, China and the Middle East, India and Vietnam are the leading countries in the processing of cashew nuts.

The bottom line: The call is out for Africa to not only remain at the forefront of the production of cashew nuts globally, but also build capacity in the area of value addition to reap the huge reward in the sector.

TRADE ROUNDUP

TRADE | Nigeria’s foreign trade declines in Q2 2022 – NBS

• In a recently released report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s foreign trade fell to N12.8 trillion in the second quarter of the year (Q2’22) from N13 trillion in the previous quarter. The report said foreign trade in Q2 2022 consisted of exports valued at N7.4 trillion and imports worth N5.4 trillion.

EXPORT | Nigeria lauded for increased exports to Malaysia

• In 2021, Malaysia’s total trade with Nigeria increased by 15.3 percent to $1.27 billion from $84.5 million in 2020.

UPCOMING TRAINING

EXPORT PROMOTION

🗒️ Briefing note: Nigeria's Multibillion Dollars Unexplored Opportunity in Perishables Exports - Expert

Nigeria earned N4.13 trillion from oil and gas exports in 2021, but experts who are versed in the export of perishable farm produce believe Nigeria can earn double this amount from just the export of agricultural goods alone, per CBN.

Why it matters: Currently Nigeria is an import-dependent country, where cargo planes come to drop goods and go to Kenya, Ghana or other African countries to carry farm produce to Europe, the Americas, Australia, Asia and others.

• According to a report showing export and import figures from cargo freighting at international airports in Nigeria in 2021 and part of 2022, Nigeria imported 77,819,036 tonnes of cargo in 2022 and exported 14,190,465 tonnes of cargo in the same period.

📊By the numbers: In Q1 and Q2 of 2022, Nigeria imported 25,868,554 tonnes of cargo and exported 7,974,225 tonnes of cargo. While in 2021, Nigerian imports were 81.8 percent higher than exports by air and in the first half of 2022, it was 68.8 percent.

💬What they’re saying: “We potentially have so much to export, but currently we are not exporting much. We export very little farm produce and perishables, but not like Nairobi (Kenya), which exports flowers all year round to Europe and the Americas. They also export potatoes to Asia, America and Europe." - Mr. Kingsley Nwokoma, President of Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN).

The other side: Reports indicate that Kenya earned some $983 million (108.9 billion Kenya shillings) from flower exports alone in 2020. Reuters also reported that Kenya’s earnings from exports of cut flowers, fruits and vegetables rose 5 percent in 2021 from the previous year.

The bottom line: In order to reap the huge rewards of exporting in the sector, Nigeria needs to prioritize exports by strict compliance with the international standards that farm products are subjected to in the global markets.

IN THE NEWS

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DATA WATCH

 TWEET OF THE WEEK

🐦 Count down to the Small Business Competitiveness report launch!

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

CHANGE OF GUARDS: Pic. 1: Kemi Badenoch MP, becomes the new UK's Trade Secretary as the new British PM Rt. Hon. Liz Truss consolidates her power by forming a government. Pic. 2: The world mourns the longest reigning monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who died at 96years and reigned for 70years. The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19th September. God save the king, His Majesty King Charles III was formally proclaimed King at the Accession Council. CREDIT: Twitter/RoyalFamily