KEY POINTS

• Nigeria recorded $21.87 billion in total exports to the EU in 2024, but non-oil goods made up only 10 percent of that figure.
• NEPC CEO Nonye Ayeni says Nigeria’s agricultural commodities, including cocoa, sesame and ginger, hold untapped potential in the EU’s 450-million-consumer market.
• Regulatory non-compliance and limited awareness of EU standards remain the biggest barriers blocking Nigerian exporters from scaling up.

Nigeria shipped $21.87 billion worth of goods to the European Union last year. Most of it was oil. And that, according to the country’s top export agency, is a problem worth fixing.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council laid out the numbers Thursday during a webinar on EU food import regulations. Non-oil products accounted for just 10 percent of Nigeria’s total exports to the EU in 2024, despite the bloc representing roughly 26 percent of Nigeria’s total global trade.

NEPC Executive Director Nonye Ayeni called the gap an opening, not a verdict. “Nigeria is endowed with numerous agricultural products and commodities,” she said. “This is an opportunity to improve bilateral trade between Nigeria and the EU.”

What Nigeria Is Selling, and What It Should Be

Cocoa, oilseeds, fish, seafood, rubber and leather currently lead Nigeria’s non-oil exports to Europe. But Ayeni said the bigger opportunity lies in value-added products: cocoa butter over raw beans, processed sesame over bulk seed, packaged ginger and hibiscus targeting European health food markets.

“When value is added to these commodities instead of exporting them raw, we earn a premium price and create jobs,” she said.

The webinar, organized with COLEAD, zeroed in on a recurring problem: EU regulatory hurdles. Nigerian shipments have been rejected at European ports over food safety rules, traceability gaps and pesticide residue violations. The NEPC says the issue is awareness, not product quality. The council sponsored 210 international certifications for exporters last year and ran 629 capacity-building programs nationwide.

Non-Oil Exports Are Growing but the EU Gap Remains Wide

Nigeria’s overall non-oil export performance showed real momentum in 2024, reaching $5.456 billion, a 20.77 percent increase over 2023. Cocoa beans alone accounted for nearly 31 percent of that total.

Nura Abba Rimi, Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said compliance with EU standards was non-negotiable for exporters serious about European market access. His ministry, he said, was working with NEPC to strengthen quality infrastructure and push certifications like ISO and GlobalGAP.

Nigeria has the products. The EU has the appetite. Closing that gap comes down to standards, processing and institutional follow-through.