*To sustaining trade expansion
The Federal Government says it will sustain growth in non-oil exports by promoting value addition, expanding markets and improving export competitiveness.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, made this known during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Oduwole also said that the government was focusing on attracting more long-term productive foreign investment while sustaining reforms to strengthen investors’ confidence.
She said that Nigeria recorded two billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) between 2023 and 2025.
“The figure is based on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) capital-importation series, with the FDI component isolated.
“Nigeria recorded about 377 million dollars in 2023, 675 million dollars in 2024 and 923 million dollars in 2025.
According to her, recorded FDI more than doubled between 2023 and 2025 and increased by about 37 per cent between 2024 and 2025.
The minister cautioned against confusing FDI with total capital importation, adding that Nigeria received 23.22 billion dollars in total foreign capital inflows in 2025.
She further said that 19.74 billion dollars of the inflows was portfolio investment, while FDI accounted for 923 million dollars.
According to her, portfolio investment and long-term productive FDI have different implications for industrial capacity and employment.
Oduwole said publicly available NBS sector rankings reflected total capital importation rather than FDI-specific allocations.
She said banking and financial services received the largest recent shares of total capital importation.
She said an FDI-specific sector ranking would require reconciled transaction-level data from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), NBS and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The minister said that available evidence suggested investors’ confidence was improving, although efforts were continuing to attract more long-term productive investment.
She said total capital inflows rose from 12.32 billion dollars in 2024 to 23.22 billion dollars in 2025.
“Recorded FDI increased from about 675 million dollars in 2024 to 923 million dollars in 2025.
“Total capital importation reached 10.37 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2026, representing an 83.83 per cent increase over the corresponding period of 2025,” he said.
Oduwole said the figures reflected positive responses to reforms, improved foreign exchange market transparency and trade-facilitation measures.
She said the first phase of the National Single Window was launched in March 2026 to streamline import and export processes.
He noted that portfolio investment accounted for about 85 per cent of total capital inflows in 2025.
She said the ministry would continue promoting policy consistency, faster approvals, investment retention and stronger industrial capacity.
On economic diversification, Oduwole said that Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached a record of 6.1 billion in 2025.
“The figure represented an 11.5 per cent increase from 5.46 billion dollars recorded in 2024. Export volume increased from 7.29 million metric tones to 8.02 million metric tones, representing a 10 per cent increase.
“Nigeria exported 281 different non-oil products in 2025,” she said.
The minister identified cocoa and its derivatives, urea, cashew nuts, sesame and gold dore among the leading non-oil export earners.
She said the ministry would sustain growth in the value and volume of non-oil exports over the next three years.
She said the focus would be on increasing value-added products, processed agricultural goods, manufactured products, services and digital exports.
According to her, the strategy also includes expanding production capacity, improving standards, developing export clusters and reducing logistics costs.
Oduwole said the government would build on the 6.1 billion dollars non-oil export record while promoting greater value addition and market expansion.
She said told NAN the government would continue to focus on value addition and market expansion as part of its economic diversification agenda.
TO SUSTAINING TRADE EXPANSION
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment also said that the Nigeria’s trade sector has recorded remarkable expansion, while efforts are ongoing to ensure investments translate into real economic activities.
Oduwole said that merchandise trade value increased significantly between 2023 and 2025, supported by stronger exports and improved economic activities.
She noted that according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the country recorded merchandise trade values of N66.8 trillion in 2023, N138 trillion in 2024 and about N149 trillion in 2025.
”These are nominal Naira values, so part of that increase reflects exchange-rate movements and valuation effects.
”We should not present the entire increase as a corresponding rise in physical trade volumes.
”The more important structural trend is that Nigeria has maintained a positive merchandise trade balance across recent periods, with exports outperforming imports; though crude oil still accounts for a substantial share of export earnings,” she said.
The minister also said that in the 2025 fourth quarter, total merchandise trade stood at N36.21 trillion, with exports of N18.96 trillion and imports of N17.25 trillion.
”On volume, we need to be statistically precise. There is no economically meaningful single tonnage figure for total merchandise trade.
”This is because Nigeria trades crude oil, gas, vehicles, machinery, agricultural commodities and thousands of other products measured in different physical units.
”The NBS therefore reports aggregate trade principally by value and provides quantities at commodity level. Where we do have a clean physical-volume series is non-oil exports,” she explained.
Oduwole further said that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) reported that non-oil export volume increased from 7.29 million metric tons in 2024 to 8.02 million metric tons in 2025, a 10 per cent increase.
”So, the overall picture is one of significantly higher trade values, sustained trade surpluses and encouraging non-oil export growth.
”Our task now is to deepen value addition so that Nigeria exports more processed and manufactured products, rather than relying excessively on raw commodities,” she added.
The minister cautioned that nominal increases should not be interpreted entirely as growth in physical trade volumes due to exchange rate effects.
She said that Nigeria’s trade balance remained positive, with exports exceeding imports across recent reporting periods.
She also said the government was prioritising policies that would encourage manufacturing, processing and higher-value exports.
Oduwole noted that non-oil export volume increased by 10 per cent, moving from 7.29 million metric tons in 2024 to 8.02 million metric tons in 2025, showed progress in efforts to diversify Nigeria’s export base.
On investments, the minister said the government was moving beyond celebrating investment announcements to monitoring actual implementation.
She said about 50 billion dollars in investment announcements had been recorded, with over six billion dollars in inflows since 2024.
According to her, at the ministry level, our latest reporting refers to more than 50 billion dollars in investment announcements and over 6 billion dollars in investment inflows since 2024.
”Separately, the NBS recorded 10.37 billion dollars in total capital importation in 2026 first quarter. However, that 10.37 billion dollars is overwhelmingly portfolio capital, 9.86 billion dollars was portfolio investment.
“The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) component stood at 135.08 million dollars.
”The pipeline is strengthening, investor interest is rising, and our responsibility is to convert that pipeline into productive, long-term capital.
”That is exactly why we are focused on investment facilitation and retention. The real work begins after an investor announces an intention to invest,” she said.
Oduwole explained that investments must pass through several stages before becoming operational.
She listed the stages to include approval processes, financial closure, equipment importation, construction and production as key in investment actualisation.
She said that the government’s assessment of investment success was based on capital deployment, industrial expansion, job creation and technology transfer.
The minister said the country’s investment pipeline remained strong, but the priority was ensuring commitments translated into productive ventures.
She said the administration remained committed to improving investor confidence and converting opportunities into sustainable economic growth.
