Nigeria wields ban in bid to beautify shea nut industry

In August, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu imposed a six-month ban on shea nut exports, a vital ingredient in the multi-billion-dollar global cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical industries. Nigeria accounts for more than 40% of global production, most of which is harvested by women and sold to middlemen and exporters.

Only 1% of the global value of the produce is retained in Nigeria, according to officials of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit that recommended the ban. "Nigeria's shea is our green wealth," said Tinubu as he announced the ban. "I have approved a six-month suspension of raw shea exports to secure supply for local processors, create jobs and protect a value chain where 95% of pickers are women."

Governments across the continent are insisting on more local processing and discarding the old model of exporting raw materials and importing expensive finished goods made with them. The Tinubu administration is seeking to replicate this template across the agricultural and extractive industries.

Announcing the ban, vice president Kashim Shettima insisted that it would lead to a dramatic increase in the value of Nigeria's shea exports. "Nigeria produces nearly 40% of the global shea product, yet we account for only 1% of the market... of $6.5bn. This is unacceptable. We are projected to earn about $300m annually in the short term, and by 2027 there will be a 10-fold increase. This is our target."

Shettima said that the move is not "an anti-trade policy, but a pro-value addition policy designed to secure raw materials for our processing factories and enabling industries to run at full capacity, thereby boosting rural income and jobs for our people. By protecting the shea industry, we are protecting livelihoods, dignity and opportunity for millions of our women."

Minister of agriculture and food security Abubakar Kyari said that export restrictions in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo left Nigeria vulnerable "as the outlier and a hotspot for opportunistic and unregulated buying... Informal exports, estimated at 90,000 metric tonnes annually, are draining our domestic supply."

"The reasons for this presidential directive are clear. Without corrective action, Nigeria risked becoming a raw depot for opportunistic and illicit buyers, undermining our processors' capacities, disempowering rural women and forfeiting billions in potential export revenues."

Price plunge

But the impact of the ban has been mixed. Immediately after its imposition the price of shea nuts decreased by more than 33%, from $798 per ton to $532. Prices have since recovered to around $654 a ton, about 18% lower than before the ban.

It was reported in late September that some women farmers and male labourers who transport the crop had lost almost half of their income from the nuts since the export ban. Despite the government's insistence of excess capacity - it points to a national installed capacity of 160,000 metric tonnes - the BBC reported that the sudden ban in the midst of harvest season "led to a fall in demand for the shea nut as there is not enough local capacity to process all of the country's harvest".

"It hasn't been easy," Maimuna Abba, who trades in shea nuts in the town of Keffi, some 70 kilometres north of the capital, Abuja, tells African Business. "We can only hope the ban isn't extended when the current one comes to an end."

Within Nigeria, the established export-oriented supply chain faced immediate disruption and loss of revenue in the ensuing price slump. "The biggest losers turned out to be the rural women who sourced the shea nuts and those of us who bought off them and supplied exporters," says Clement Attah, a buying agent based in the northern city of Minna. "I was forced to sell my own stock at half the prices I bought [at] just to cut my losses."

Europe, a major destination of Nigerian shea, was hardest hit by the price volatility caused by the withdrawal of Nigerian supplies. Processors in Germany, one of the top buyers, experienced initial supply disruptions before switching to supplies from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali at higher prices.

While nut harvesters have been badly impacted, some local processors have benefited from the export curb and consequent price slump. They have used the opportunity to build up supplies and are expanding operations. That fits with the government's stated aim to boost the sector and allow it to capture more value locally.

"Many shea processing factories are under-utilised, operating at 35-50% capacity," said Suleiman, a manager at Abuja-based processing company Salid Agriculture. "By securing the supply of raw materials for these local processors, the government hopes these plants will run fuller, creating more jobs in rural areas."

Government plans for future

The government says that boosting local value addition is key to the ban.

"Shea is also identified in our Zero Oil Plan as a strategic non-oil export," said minister Kyari. "With projected global market growth from $6.5bn today to $9bn by 2030, Nigeria can position itself at the heart of this expansion... It will secure domestic supply, enable processors to operate at full capacity, curb informal trade, and lay the foundation for Nigeria to transition from exporting raw kernels to exporting high-value derivatives such as butter, olein and stearin."

Despite the hit to women harvesters, a government statement insists the ban will ultimately support women. "The Minister [Kyari] further noted that since 90% of pickers and processors of shea are women, investment in this value chain would directly translate into women's empowerment, rural job creation and sustainable livelihoods."

Shea's attractive propositio

A traditional beauty product used as a skin moisturiser and in the treatment of cuts and abrasions, the butter extracted from the shea nut is now globally popular as an ingredient in cosmetics and other skin care therapies. Shea butter's ability to moisturise the skin, keeping away the wrinkles and spots of ageing, is driving demand for cosmetic products formulated with it. This is even more so in parts of the world with ageing populations such as Europe, parts of Asia and North America.

According to the Global Shea Alliance, about 10% of shea exports are used in the global cosmetics industry. It is estimated that about 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of shea butter are used each year in the industry.

Shea butter is also used in lotions, creams, lip balms, lipsticks, sun creams, soaps, shampoos and hair conditioners. Manufacturers are experimenting and introducing new products that incorporate shea for its unique impact on the skin. Its use in beauty products has evolved as a segment of the global cosmetics business worth more than $1.4bn of a global shea market valued at $2.4bn in 2025, according to Transparency Market Research.

About 90% of all shea exported from Africa is used in the food industry. In Africa, shea butter is used as a cooking fat, while globally, shea butter is used in fats, pastries, and confectionery. The international food industry mainly processes the butter into stearin and uses it as a cocoa butter replacement.