For years, Nigeria’s export story was largely an oil story. Crude and other petroleum products dominated the country’s foreign-exchange earnings, while agriculture and manufacturing struggled to gain a comparable place in international trade.

Nigeria’s formally documented non-oil exports reached a record US$6.1 billion in 2025, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), representing an 11.5 percent increase from US$5.46 billion in 2024. The country exported 8.02 million metric tonnes of non-oil products across 281 product categories to 120 countries.

The latest figures suggest that this growth is creating more than export revenue. It is creating an ecosystem of businesses around exports.

The Central Bank of Nigeria‘s April 2026 Economic Report offers a glimpse of where this activity is coming from.

Non-oil export earnings rose to US$960 million in April, up from US$770 million. Cashew nuts accounted for 21.25 percent of export earnings, followed by urea at 14.15 percent and cocoa beans at 10.46 percent.

Five companies accounted for about US$120 million, or 29.51 percent, of the earnings recorded by the CBN’s top 100 non-oil exporters that month.

Dangote Fertiliser contributed the largest share at 14.15 percent, followed by Robust International Commodities at 5.16 percent, Tulip Cocoa Processing at 4.03 percent, Valency Agro Nigeria at 3.17 percent and Outspan Nigeria at 3.01 percent.

The group cuts across fertiliser manufacturing, agricultural commodity trading and cocoa processing, showing that Nigeria’s non-oil export market is beginning to involve businesses at different stages of the value chain.

The opportunity goes beyond production

A farmer produces cocoa beans, but getting those beans into an international market involves several businesses beyond the farm. The product may need to be collected, stored, tested, processed, packaged, financed and transported before reaching an overseas buyer.

That creates room for companies that do not grow cocoa themselves. The same applies to cashew, sesame and other agricultural commodities. As exports increase, businesses that provide storage, logistics, packaging, quality testing, certification, financing and market access become increasingly important to the trade.

Nigeria is not simply producing goods for foreign markets. It is gradually building the commercial infrastructure required to sell those goods abroad.

The business of adding value 

Nigeria’s export figures show a strong presence of agricultural commodities, but they also include processed and semi-processed products. In 2025, cocoa beans alone generated about US$1.99 billion, while cocoa butter, cocoa liquor and cocoa cake also featured among exported products. Urea generated about US$1.29 billion.

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A company that exports raw cocoa is part of one stage of the supply chain. A processor can create additional demand for machinery, workers, packaging, storage, quality control, energy and transportation. Processing changes the business opportunity.

This is why companies such as Tulip Cocoa Processing matter beyond their individual export earnings. They demonstrate how Nigerian businesses can sit further up the value chain by turning raw agricultural products into inputs for international markets.

The same principle can apply to other commodities; the more products Nigeria processes before exporting them, the more businesses can participate in the value created along the way.

The opportunity, however, does not mean exporting from Nigeria has suddenly become easy. Businesses still face the cost of moving goods from farms and factories to ports, complying with export requirements and meeting the standards of international buyers.

NEPC has also acknowledged that the US$6.1 billion recorded in 2025 does not capture the full scale of Nigeria’s non-oil trade because some exports still move informally through the country’s borders; that means the next stage of growth will depend not only on finding more products to sell, but on making it easier and cheaper for businesses to get those products into foreign markets.

The businesses growing around exports 

If Nigeria continues to increase non-oil exports, there will be more demand for businesses that can solve the problems exporters face.

A small manufacturer may need an export consultant to understand a foreign market. A processor may need a laboratory to certify its products. An agricultural trader may need warehousing and reliable transportation. An exporter may need financing before a foreign buyer pays. Another business may build a digital platform that connects Nigerian suppliers with international customers.

None of these businesses necessarily produces the commodity being exported, but without them, getting that commodity from Nigeria to a buyer in another country becomes harder.

Nigeria’s export business is evolving 

The US$120 million earned by the five companies in April is part of a much bigger story. Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached a record US$6.1 billion in 2025, with products reaching markets worldwide.

As that trade grows, so does the need for businesses that can process, store, finance, certify and transport Nigerian goods, as well as connect exporters with international buyers. The opportunity, then, is not only in producing products for export, but in building the businesses and services that help those products reach the world.

Meiza Nigeria