Nigeria Drives Export-Led Economic Diversification Agenda

Nigeria is actively working to shift its economic reliance away from crude oil, which has historically made the nation vulnerable to global price volatility and external shocks. The administration of President Bola Tinubu is prioritizing an economic reset through its Renewed Hope Agenda, with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) spearheading efforts to establish non-oil exports as a cornerstone of a more robust and diversified economy.

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The significance of NEPC ’s interventions goes beyond taking Nigerian products to foreign markets.

The NEPC's role extends beyond simply introducing Nigerian products to international markets. The council is focused on building a comprehensive export ecosystem. This includes supporting women-led businesses, providing training for thousands of potential exporters, developing agricultural clusters, securing international certifications for products, opening new markets, and addressing the issue of export rejections. The overarching strategy is to diversify Nigeria's production base, increase its global sales volume, generate employment across value chains, and boost foreign exchange reserves.

The challenge for Nigeria has long been not just producing more agricultural commodities, but transforming its vast productive capacity into internationally competitive goods and services that can generate sustainable foreign exchange. Established in 1976, the NEPC serves as the federal government's primary institution for developing and promoting non-oil exports, aligning directly with the administration's diversification goals. Its mandate encompasses export development, fostering export-related industries, creating incentives, and implementing government export policies.

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Its emerging strategy is clear: diversify what Nigeria produces, increase what it sells to the world, create jobs along the value chain and bring more foreign exchange into the economy.

To further strengthen these initiatives, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni was appointed Executive Director/Chief Executive of NEPC in October 2023. Her appointment is seen as critical for repositioning the non-oil export sector as a stronger pillar of economic growth, particularly as the Tinubu administration seeks to reduce the country's long-standing dependence on oil and unlock new avenues for foreign exchange, job creation, and overall economic expansion. NEPC's interventions have already shown progress, with 1,983 capacity-building programs conducted from 2023 to date, involving 215,156 participants.

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That transition is already visible in the Council’s interventions across agriculture, manufacturing, MSMEs, women entrepreneurship, skills development and international market access.