NIGERIA’S non-oil exports have fallen by 39 per cent from N6.914tn to N4.194tn in10 years, according to an analysis of the National Bureau of Statistics’ Foreign Trade Statistics by Financial PUNCH.
Specifically, figures show that the N4.194tn non-oil exports recorded in 2021 are 39.34 per cent lower than the N6.914tn non-oil exports recorded in 2012.
In 2012, Nigeria’s total exports amounted to N22.446tn. Out of this number, N15.531tn was crude oil export while N6.914tn was non-oil export. The non-oil exports comprised 30.8 per cent of the total exports that year.
However, in 2021 the nation’s total exports were estimated at N19.057tn, with the non-oil segment occupying N4.194tn. The non-oil exports comprised 22.07 per cent of the total exports last year.
The Financial PUNCH analysis of the National Bureau of Statistics’ Foreign Trade Statistics between 2012 and 2021 on Friday showed the levels of growth of the non-oil exports and the shares of its contribution to the nation’s total exports over the period.
The data revealed that the non-oil exports’ share of total exports was highest at 30.8 per cent in 2012 and lowest at 11.86 per cent in 2015.
Manufacturers have said the decline in the non-oil sector is an indication that critical issues in the industry are yet to be resolved.
Non-oil exports are defined as the export of products and commodities that are neither crude oil nor minerals. They involve the export of agricultural commodities such as cocoa and cashew nuts; the export of finished products such as aluminium and plastics; and the export of capital goods such as machines and their parts.
The share of oil or non-oil export to total exports indicates how much Nigeria depends on crude oil or non-oil products for its foreign exchange earnings.
Breaking down the numbers
In 2012, total exports amounted to N22.446tn. Out of this number, N15.531 tn was crude oil while N6.914tn was non-oil export. The non-oil export comprised 30.8per cent of the total exports that year.
In the following year, 2013, total exports were estimated at N14.245tn, with oil occupying N11.808 trillion and non-oil, N2.437tn. Non-oil exports shared only 17.11 per cent of the total exports within the year.
In 2014, total exports were estimated at N17.203tn; crude oil export comprised N12.791tn, while non-oil exports were estimated at N4.412tn. The share of the non-oil exports to the total exports within the year rose to25.7 per cent but was still less than the 2012’s figure.
In 2015, total exports dropped to N9.728tn, with crude comprising N8.574tn and non-oil sharing the rest N1.154tn. The non-oil export share that year constituted 11.9 per cent.
In 2016, total exports amounted to N8.527 trillion, with non-oil comprising N1.530 trillion, representing 17.95 per cent. Crude oil shared the rest.
In 2017, total exports were estimated at N13.591tn, but non-oil exports totalled N1.620tn, representing 11.92 per cent. The rest was occupied by crude oil.
In 2018, total exports were estimated at N19.033tn; non-oil exports business done that year amounted to N2.786tn, representing a share of 14.64 per cent.
Also in 2019, total exports reached N19.190tn, with the non-oil export segment comprising N4.052tn, representing a 21.12 per cent share of total exports for the year.
In 2020, which was characterised by COVID-19 lockdowns and other international restrictions, total exports slowed to N12.429tn, with the non-oil exports standing at N1.328tn, representing a 10.69 per cent share.
In 2021, the fortunes of the non-oil export sector brightened. Total exports were estimated at N19.057tn, with the non-oil segment occupying N4.194tn, representing 22.07 per cent.
Nigeria’s non-oil export is insignificant when compared with peers. Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings are insignificant when compared with other emerging economies. In dollar terms, the total value of Nigeria’s non-oil exports in 2021 was $10.083bn. This was realised from more than 20 items exported to various countries in 2021.
But Bangladesh, a country once touted as poor, exported knit and woven garments alone estimated at $30bn in the first seven months of 2021, according to the country’s Export Promotion Bureau.
Also, India, another emerging market, exported textiles and apparel worth $29.8bn between April and December 2021, according to the Ministry of Textiles in the country.
Vietnam, another emerging market, earned $57.54bn from the export of phones and accessories in 2021, said the General Department of Vietnam Customs in the country.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Argentina earns nearly $21bn from the export of delivery trucks, soybean oil, soybean meal and corn.
Nigeria’s exports are mainly non-manufactured goods
Apart from crude oil and gas, Nigeria’s non-oil exports are dominated by raw materials and agricultural commodities.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, non-oil exports were dominated by urea, cocoa, sesame seeds, and aluminium alloys.
In the previous quarter of the same year, the situation was the same. In the second quarter of 2021, agricultural products and raw materials dominated non-oil exports, trumping manufactured products which came fifth in the non-oil export segment within the quarter.
The implication is that Nigeria exports raw materials to countries that produce finished goods and then re-export to the country.
Exporters say for Nigeria to raise its non-oil export earnings, value addition will be critical.
The Chief Executive Officer of AgroEknor, an international commodity trading firm, Attah Anzaku, said, “If I am exporting cashew nuts in the raw form, I may just get $800 per tonne, but if it is processed, I get close to $2000 per ton. So, the money-making thing here is value addition, which every exporter must do to earn more money”.
Exporters blame FX policies, power, port problems
Manufacturing exporters and experts told Financial PUNCH that foreign exchange policies and infrastructure issues such as power and ports were making it difficult for them to export.
Experts and stakeholders also said the declining fortune of non-oil exports might worsen the nation’s dollar shortage problem.
The Chairman, Jon Tudy Interbiz, an exporter to the United States, Jon Kachikwu, said non-oil export was falling partly because of the policy of asking exporters to repatriate and collect their earnings at the official rate of N416.
“Before now, we used to access our dollars when we repatriated. Now, the CBN is asking exporters to take their proceeds at the official rate. This is discouraging exporters because we should be able to repatriate dollars and sell at the market rate,” he said.
The Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group, Ede Dafinone, noted that the costs of diesel, electricity and freight at the nation’s ports were making Nigerian exporters uncompetitive in the global market.
“Recent increase in the cost of diesel has affected manufacturers significantly. Also, the cost of forwarding products is so high. Getting a container from the hinterland to the ports is more expensive than moving your products to Naples or Amsterdam, which is very discouraging,” Dafinone said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, told Financial PUNCH that Nigerian exporters were not productive and competitive due to policy issues and the state of the economy.
“Non-oil export is about competitiveness. In any country, when you talk about export, you must be competitive in price and quality.
“Also, you have to be competitive domestically before you can be competitive in the global market. You have to look at the issues of power, ports and regulations, which are not favourable to exporters.”
He noted that the CBN policy on export repatriation might have forced some exporters to avoid a full declaration of export proceeds.
‘Pay export grant, change unfriendly policies’
Yusuf urged the CBN to allow exporters to take their proceeds and sell at the market rate since their raw materials were often purchased at realistic market rates.
“Exporters in the economy must be allowed unfettered access to their export proceeds. CBN should expand the scope of its new foreign exchange supply strategies and incentives to cover other sources of foreign exchange inflows into the economy,” Yusuf said while calling for the revamp of the ports and infrastructure.
Dafinone, on his part, commended the Federal Government for trying to support exporters with the Export Expansion Grant through the promissory notes but stressed the need for the government not to allow backlogs to be created again.
He noted that the export grant should be paid to those who were yet to get it, stressing that it was the surest way to boost non-oil export and foreign exchange supply.
