Nigeria can earn as much as $700 million from shea export and can save as much as $600 million when the local cosmetics industry utilises the commodity as raw material, say experts.
“Nigeria has the potential to generate over $700 million annually from shea, based on the estimated 330,000 metric tonnes and can conserve $600 million through utilisation of shea butter by our cosmetic industry alone,” said Hajara Tanko, director, planning and policy analysis development, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC).
“The opportunities in shea production are enormous. The base of most of the cosmetics imported into the country is shea, which we have in abundance in Nigeria. We are losing in terms of generating revenue from shea production,” Tanko said at International Shea Conference in Lagos organised by USAID in Lagos.
Nigeria literarily sits on a shea butter goldmine, as the crop is grown in 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states, with Niger, Kwara and Oyo states having the largest production area, according to the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR).
Shea butter is considered a healing balm for all age groups, as it is used for the treatment of skin problems such as wrinkles, Eczema, itching, and insect bites, among others.
The global demand for shea butter is estimated at $10billion and is projected to be worth about $30billion by 2020. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer but Ghana is the largest exporter in Africa, although most of the country’s exports are from Nigeria.
“The opportunity to create wealth in the shea industry is enormous in Nigeria. The conversion of 100,000 metric tonnes of shea nuts into about 48,000 metric tonnes of shea butter for export can generate about $72 million and economically sustain about 600,000 rural women,” said Jibril Bokani, National Shea Producers Association of Nigeria (NASPAN).
“This shows that there exists a clear opportunity for Nigeria to create wealth and employment to be driven by value addition and export of shea butter and shea cake,” Bokani said.
Experts say that about 85 percent traded shea go to the confectionery industry, mostly as CBE cocoa butter substitute, while 15 percent is channelled to the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sub-sectors. About N345 million of shea butter is lost to smuggling, according to Olusegun Awolowo, CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
Isaac Adegun, deputy chief of party, NEXTT Project, said Nigeria must now set up processing plants to add value to shea before exporting.
“This will provide jobs and increase our foreign exchange earnings,” Adegun said.
Loius Inabule, researcher, Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), said Nigeria must begin to focus on domesticating the shea crop.
“NIFOR has been able to reduce the long gestation period of 20 years to four and seven years. Nigeria can now boast of having shea trees that are flowering after five years and also fruiting,” said Inabule.
Karamvie Singh, regional head/country head, 3F Nigeria IPEX Limited, said Nigeria is the largest producer but the quality of its shea does not meet international standards.
“Things are getting better now, with various intervention programmes educating women on proper handling and processing of the crop to meet standards. We import $1million worth of shea from Nigeria annually and the volume is between 8,000 and 10,000 tonnes,” Singh added.
Odinaka Anudu & Josephine Okojie
