Trade Nigeria : Export Opportunities To Europe and the Rest Of the World

 

The Economy of Nigeria is dominated by Crude oil and petroleum together with manufacturing and processing industries. The country has rich mineral and resource deposits, comprising of gold, uranium, coal diamond and other precious stones such as iron-ore, zinc, tin, magnesium and lead among others. But today, we want to look at other commodities that can be exported from Nigeria alongside crude oil.

One of such commodities is soybean. Soybean is one of the commodities Turkey imports and last year alone, they imported soybean of 885 million USD. According to Internal grains council, world trade in soybean is expected to expand between Oct 2020 and Sept 2021) to a new peak. As Nigeria struggles to cushion the devastating effects of covid 19 on our economy, we must embrace agriculture fully because we all know from experience that Agriculture is indeed the surest path for inclusive well being of our nation, economic growth and  job creation. No country or region has built a modern economy without first strengthening the Agriculture sector. 

 

 

Another commodity we will be looking at for export opportunities is cassava. Nigeria is among the largest producers of cassava in the world. As countries are looking inwards to revive their economies and restore livelihoods affected by the pandemic, cassava is one of the crops Nigeria can leverage on. Farmers can ramp up production with huge support from the government.

Currently, our export rate for cassava is about 1.7 million USD annually inspite of being among the top producers of this commodity as against Thailand with an export rate of about 1.9 Billion USD annually. 

Cassava is in high demand within and outside the country hence with the support of the government, it will increase our GDP(gross domestic product)

USES OF CASSAVA

There are many uses of cassava, apart from being used as food for human consumption, it can also be used for the production of livestock feed.

Cassava is also used as a raw material for the production of certain bakery products

It is also used in the production of starch.

 

 

 

2. SESAME SEEDS

 Sesame seeds is a flower plant that is common across Africa. It is currently the most sought after cash crop in Nigeria.  Some experts have even described it as Nigeria's black gold. It is largely cultivated across Nigeria with spread in over 22 states of the federation. 

 

Over five million tons of the seeds are cultivated annually with Nigeria's value at about 300,000 metric tonnes. Nigeria is now the second largest African producer just behind Sudan and the 7th largest producer in the world. We have the potential to do more with adequate government support and an enabling environment. 

At the International market, the price per tonne is about 1070 USD for pure sesame and about 1050 for the mixed seed.

 

 

The seeds has numerous uses and is a very good source of vegetable oil with no cholesterol which makes it very healthy and hence the most demanded vegetable oil in the world. It is currently the most sought after crop in Nigeria. States that farm sesame seeds in Nigeria are Adamawa, Niger, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Yobe e.t.c. It is mainly farmed for export because we don"t really have processing companies in Nigeria. 

 

...............................To Be Continued