Zenith Bank has called for a stronger push to process Nigerian commodities locally and develop globally competitive products, saying the country must retain more value from its exports if non-oil trade is to drive sustainable economic growth.
The bank made the call at the 10th edition of its International Trade Seminar on Non-Oil Export, held virtually on Tuesday, with policymakers, regulators, exporters, manufacturers, investors and development partners participating from Nigeria and other countries.
The seminar, themed “Unlocking Value and Harnessing Growth,” focused on ways to expand Nigeria’s non-oil exports, strengthen domestic value chains and improve access to trade finance and international markets.
Speaking at the event, Zenith Bank’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dame Adaora Umeoji, said Nigeria’s non-oil exports had recorded significant growth, reaching $6.1bn in 2025 from $5.46bn in 2024.
She noted that the 2025 figure represented a sharp increase from the $612m recorded a decade earlier, but said the country needed to go beyond exporting unprocessed commodities.
Umeoji said Nigeria should increase local production and processing to create greater economic value, while highlighting Zenith Bank’s efforts to facilitate cross-border trade.
She disclosed that the bank was working with the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat on the development of the SMARTAfCFTA portal, while its integration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System was expected to make regional transactions easier for customers.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said Nigeria’s priority should now be to increase the amount of value retained domestically from exports.
Represented at the seminar, Oduwole said government was working towards improving production, processing, market access, financing and trade infrastructure to enable Nigerian businesses to compete more effectively.
She said the AfCFTA offered Nigerian companies access to a continental market of more than 1.4 billion people and an economy valued at about $3.4tn.
Oduwole, who assumed the chairmanship of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers in July, also noted Nigeria’s role as an AfCFTA digital trade co-champion, saying digital commerce could open additional opportunities for local businesses across Africa.
She urged banks and other financial institutions to expand their focus from financing individual export transactions to supporting the capacity of businesses to produce goods that could compete in international markets.
The immediate past President and Chairman of Afreximbank and current Chairman of the Board of the Fund for Export Development in Africa, Professor Benedict Oramah, said Africa needed to rethink its approach to trade and economic development.
Oramah argued that the continent could no longer depend mainly on foreign capital and external demand to drive economic growth. Instead, he said African countries needed to develop domestic markets, strengthen their capacity to finance trade and industry and become more integrated into global supply chains.
For Patricia Poku-Diaby, Founder and Executive Chair of Plot Enterprise Ghana Limited, Africa’s economic future would depend largely on its ability to transform raw materials into higher-value products.
She said African countries needed to move beyond being suppliers of commodities and become producers, processors, manufacturers and owners of strong brands capable of competing globally.
The UK Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Florence Eshalomi, represented by Mujina Kaindama, Head of Trade Policy for UK Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, also stressed the importance of value addition in strengthening trade between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
She said Nigerian businesses could generate greater returns and create more jobs by processing raw materials, developing branded products and producing higher-value agricultural and manufactured goods.
The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, said the private sector would determine whether the continental trade agreement delivers its expected economic benefits.
According to him, AfCFTA’s success should ultimately be judged by the ability of African businesses to use the agreement to access new markets, expand production, increase investment and create employment.
Discussions at the seminar also focused on practical challenges facing exporters, including customs procedures, port operations, logistics, access to finance, certification, market information and trade regulations.
A public-sector panel included representatives of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Export Promotion Council and Neroli Technologies.
Participants from the private sector included representatives of Starlink Global & Ideal Limited, Dangote Group, 3T Impex Trade Centre, Terra Aqua Environmental Consultancy, RMM Global Company, Psaltry International and Lelook Nigeria Limited.
The panelists discussed ways to remove barriers limiting Nigerian exporters and improve the infrastructure, financing and regulatory systems required to expand non-oil trade.
Launched in 2015, Zenith Bank’s International Trade Seminar has become an annual platform for discussions on export development and economic diversification.
