Non-oil exports well-positioned as Nigeria’s new FX source, says NOA

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says non-oil exports can be described as Nigeria’s new source of foreign exchange (FX).

In the editorial for The Explainer, a weekly publication of the NOA, the agency said it largely reflects the fact that earnings from the oil and gas sector over the past decade have been less than impressive.

On August 10, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) said non-oil products exported in the first half (H1) of 2025 were valued at $3.22 billion.

Also, in the first quarter of 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria recorded a positive trade balance in Q1 2025, denoting that the value of exports exceeded imports by N5.17 trillion.

The NOA said the data indicate a turnaround in the non-oil export sector, signalling improved earnings from the sector.

“Given the recent data from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the non-oil export sector seems to have been well positioned as Nigeria’s new source of foreign exchange (FX),” the agency said.

“This is more so that earnings from the oil and gas sector in the past decade have not been impressive.

“Whereas crude oil which had been Nigeria’s mainstay for decades yielded only $3.47 billion in the first half of 2025, the non-oil exports, which had been despised because of paltry accruable earnings, almost upstaged the oil sector, posting impressive revenue of $3.225 billion in the same period under review.”

NOA said this implies that non-oil export earnings “almost surpassed crude oil accruals in the first half of 2025, an unprecedented record in decades”.

“This development, like the tax reforms, which have astronomically increased government revenue far above accruals from the oil sector, has been described as one of the remarkable breakthroughs that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has procured to break the jinx of the reliance on crude oil as the mainstay of the economy,” the agency said.

“Breakdown of non-oil export receipts in H1 2025, according to figures obtained from NEPC, showed that the accruals of $3.225 billion during the period was realised from 4.040 million metric tonnes of varying products mainly from agriculture and manufacturing.”

NOA said this represents a 19.59 percent increase from the $2.69 billion earned from 3.83 million metric tonnes in the corresponding period of 2024.