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NEPC reports strong growth in Nigeria’s non-oil export sector for 2024

Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached $5.46 billion in 2024, marking a 20.77% increase. The NEPC credits successful policies, programmes, and global demand.

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Nigeria non-oil exports 2024 growth

Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached $5.46 billion in 2024, marking a 20.77% increase. The NEPC credits successful policies, programmes, and global demand

 

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The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has released its impressive performance report for 2024, showing significant growth in the country’s non-oil export sector.

Also read: Oil Tycoon, Wale Tinubu, Begins the New Year with Positive Momentum

According to Nonye Ayeni, the Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached $5.456 billion in 2024, reflecting a 20.77% increase compared to 2023’s $4.517 billion.

This achievement highlights the effectiveness of NEPC’s initiatives and the broader push for economic diversification under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.”

Ayeni pointed out that the 2024 results were driven by various NEPC policies, including the “Go Global, Go for Certification” campaign, aimed at improving the quality of Made-in-Nigeria products.

The council also focused on expanding production capacity through programmes like the “Export 35 Redefined” and the “#doubleyourexport” initiative, which seek to empower farmers and processors to increase their export volumes.

The council exported a total of 7.291 million metric tonnes of products in 2024, up from 6.685 million metric tonnes in 2023.

The export basket for 2024 included 246 products, with top exports such as cocoa beans, urea, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, aluminum ingots, and cocoa butter.

Notably, cocoa butter saw a significant increase in exports, driven by rising global demand, improved production processes, and enhanced market access to key importing countries.

In terms of export receipts, the top exporters for 2024 were Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemical Limited and Starlink Global & Ideal Limited, both of which made substantial contributions to the overall export growth.

Zenith Bank, First Bank, and Fidelity Bank also played key roles, supporting Nigerian exporters through financial transactions that accounted for a significant portion of total receipts.

The NEPC also noted that the bulk of Nigeria’s exports originated from the South West and South South regions, which together contributed 90% of the total exports in 2024.

The top export destinations for Nigerian products included the Netherlands, Brazil, and Malaysia, with Ghana continuing to lead as the primary intra-African trade partner.

One of the most notable developments in 2024 was the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval for the inclusion of CFA in NXP forms for the repatriation of export proceeds.

This move is expected to benefit the NEPC’s “#doubleyourexport” initiative, as it facilitates smoother transactions for Nigerian exporters.

The NEPC’s efforts to boost Nigeria’s global competitiveness were further underscored by the certification of 400 SME exporters under the “Go Global, Go for Certification” campaign.

With a goal of certifying 855 businesses between 2022 and 2025, the NEPC is working to ensure that Nigerian exporters meet international standards and are well-equipped for global trade.

Another milestone was the launch of the Export Skills Acquisition Centre (ESAC) in Apapa, Lagos, a collaborative effort between the NEPC and Lelook Bag Academy.

The centre aims to bridge knowledge gaps and equip Nigerian exporters with the necessary skills to compete in the global marketplace.

The NEPC’s commitment to inclusivity was evident in its focus on empowering women-led businesses. In 2024, 587 women-led businesses benefited from the council’s programmes, while over 12,000 women, youth, and people with special needs participated in MSME clinics, Women in Export programmes, and Youth for Export Development Programmes (YEXDEP).

Looking ahead, the NEPC has already set its sights on continued growth in 2025, with key initiatives already in motion.

In February 2024, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) recognised the NEPC as one of four outstanding Business Support Organizations (BSOs) selected to implement the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, a transformative initiative to support women entrepreneurs in international trade and digitalization.

As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure the quality of Nigerian exports, the NEPC is also working on the STDF 845 project for cowpea and sesame, which aims to reduce rejections of Nigerian exports by meeting international sanitary and phytosanitary standards.

With a projected global market value of $7.67 billion for sesame and $7.60 billion for cowpeas by 2025, the NEPC’s work in this area could significantly boost Nigeria’s export receipts.

With a strong track record in 2024 and clear plans for the future, the NEPC is well-positioned to continue driving growth in Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.

As the council continues to measure and evaluate its progress, it remains focused on improving the country’s global competitiveness and achieving its ambitious export targets for the years to come.

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Shoreline Group secures US$200 million Afreximbank Facility

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Shoreline Group today announced that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million facility in favour of Shoreline Power Company Limited and co-borrowers including Arkad S.p.A., Shoreline’s majority-owned engineering and construction platform.
Approved in June 2026, the facility was arranged and provided by Afreximbank as sole mandated lead arranger and lender. It provides bonding and working-capital capacity for Arkad’s delivery of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz project and supports Shoreline and its affiliates in developing further pipeline and infrastructure
projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
“This is a defining transaction for Shoreline and Arkad. We built Arkad as an African- sponsored engineering platform capable of competing at the highest level, and it is now delivering against a billion-dollar energy contract. Afreximbank’s US$200 million commitment gives the platform the financial strength to match its engineering capability and pursue further major infrastructure mandates. It demonstrates that African enterprises can assemble the capital, capability and partnerships required to compete for infrastructure at international scale.”
Hassi Bir Rekaiz Phase 2a Arkad holds 44 per cent of the approximately US$1 billion EPCCS-1 contract awarded by Groupement
Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR) to an unincorporated consortium led by Egypt’s Petrojet, which holds 56 percent. EPCCS-1 covers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up for the Phase 2a central processing facility and related infrastructure at the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field in Algeria’s Berkine
Basin.
GHBR is the joint operating entity for the licence, held by Sonatrach with 51 per cent and Thailand’s PTTEP with 49 per cent. The project includes a new crude oil processing facility with capacity of 31,500 barrels per day, facilities for associated gas and produced-water treatment, approximately 217 kilometres
of pipelines and the brownfield modifications required to integrate existing Phase 1 infrastructure.
The facilities are designed to support later expansion to 63,000 barrels per day under Phase 2b.
“This financing addresses the instruments that determine whether an EPC contractor can execute at scale: performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees and working capital through the project cycle. Hassi Bir Rekaiz is a demanding scope, combining a new central processing facility, associated treatment systems, pipelines and brownfield integration. With Petrojet, and with the support of Shoreline and Afreximbank, Arkad is focused on disciplined delivery against the project’s safety, quality and schedule requirements.”
The transaction was structured under Afreximbank’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction Initiative, which supports African engineering and construction firms with the financial instruments required to compete for and execute large infrastructure contracts. Afreximbank also supported the Arkad-Petrojet partnership through its EPC twinning work at the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Algiers
in 2025.
According to Afreximbank, the transaction is its first support for a Sub-Saharan African contractor undertaking a major infrastructure project in North Africa. For Shoreline, it demonstrates a practical model for combining African ownership and capital with established international engineering andindustrial capability.

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BUSINESSWOMAN AISHA ACHIMUGU SPEAKS OUT, CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF LIFE AND RESPECT FOR RULE OF LAW

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Nigerian businesswoman and investor Aisha Achimugu has made a public appeal for the protection of her life, her family, and her business interests while alleging a sustained campaign of intimidation, media trial, and asset seizures.

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Achimugu, in a statement Tuesday, said she is facing actions that she described as an affront to the rule of law and natural justice.
She then called for the respect for court orders and for an end to what she termed misleading media coverage about her person and companies.
According to Achimugu, the widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, she has over the last three decades built businesses in the oil and gas and other sectors, and runs the SAM Empowerment Foundation, SEF, which she said has implemented health, education, and community projects across Nigeria.
The businesswoman, however, alleged that since 2023 she has been the subject of investigations and actions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Narrating her ordeals, Achimugu noted that in 2023, the EFCC’s Port Harcourt zonal office froze her personal accounts, her children’s accounts, and company accounts linked to the Felak Group, based on an interim forfeiture order.
She said this was connected to a mistaken association with MBA Forex and Capital Investment.
Achimugu stated that in January 2024 she honoured an EFCC invitation with her counsel, clarified her company’s single transaction with MBA Forex, and refunded N58 million by bank draft to the EFCC recovery account.
In March 2025, the businesswoman said she received WhatsApp messages inviting her to the EFCC Port Harcourt office. Her lawyer responded in writing, proposing dates in April 2025. Despite this, she alleged a media campaign began on March 10, 2025 linking her to wrongdoing.
On March 28, 2025, the same day her company, Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited, submitted proof of $20 million payment to NUPRC for oil blocks PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007, subsequently, she claimed the EFCC declared her a “Wanted Person” for “conspiracy and money laundering.” She also alleged that EFCC operatives searched her home that day.
In April 2025, Achimugu said she filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja. But upon returning to Nigeria on April 28, 2025 from a foreign trip, she alleged she was taken into EFCC custody, granted bail by a judge, but released five days later. She also said her international passport was collected.
She alleged further asset actions, including freezing of bank accounts, and the seizure of vehicles from her home in January 2026. She said matters relating to these actions are the subject of ongoing litigation and appeals.
Achimugu also alleged that her United States visa was revoked in April 2025, and that she encountered issues with visa processing related to her Grenadian citizenship, which she linked to media reports citing the EFCC’s declaration.
Achimugu stated that she has invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in the last five years and has attracted over $100 million in investments into the economy while directly employs close to 200 Nigerians.
However, she said the actions of the anti-graft agency have affected her business operations, international partnerships, and family, including her elderly parents and young children.
Achimugu then called on the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security services, and local and international human rights organizations to examine her case.
She also asked for the protection of her life and properties, respect for court orders, and an end to what she described as a “media trial”.
“I believe that justice delayed is justice denied, and I am not afraid to face the law provided due process is followed. My lawyers are pursuing all legal remedies locally and internationally,” she said.
Achimugu added that she remains committed to Nigeria and to supporting private sector growth.

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Nigeria’s Credit Crisis: Why Firms Still Struggle for Loans

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Nigeria’s Credit Crisis deepens as businesses struggle with high lending rates, weak bank credit access and government borrowing despite falling inflation (more…)

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