There has been increasing demands for revenue diversification measures due to the fluctuations in revenue earning from Nigeria’s crude. An analysis of Nigeria’s earnings from the top traded items for the first quarters of 2017, 2018, and 2019 has indicated the huge potentials of some non-oil sectors.
From data sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics, some export commodities have displayed considerable resistance against market instabilities.
From the NBS report, eight commodities appear to dominate Nigeria’s export. They are petroleum and crude oils, liquefied natural gas, sesamum seeds, urea, fermented cocoa beans, petroleum gasses, electrical energy, and naphthalene. Each of these commodities earned at least ₦8 billion in each successive first quarter between 2017 and 2019.
Table Showing Export Earning from Nigeria’s Top Traded Items
| Item | Q1 2019 | Q1 2018 | Q1 2017 |
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude | ₦3,376,729,986,791.43 | ₦3,580,015,944,725.12 | ₦2,376,696,755,993.65 |
| Natural gas, liquefied | ₦522,416,666,338.70 | ₦482,538,390,571.90 | ₦372,441,124,530.00 |
| Sesamum seeds, whether or not broken | ₦39,627,525,347.04 | ₦26,647,478,311.14 | ₦13,034,763,235.02 |
| Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution | ₦21,088,343,877.00 | ₦16,531,440,111.40 | |
| Good Fermented Nigerian Cocoa Beans – Main Crop 2015/2016 | ₦20,106,656,004.48 | ₦23,297,981,962.48 | ₦28,314,844,377.10 |
| Other petroleum gases etc in gaseous state | ₦10,268,531,960.00 | ₦30,753,674,222.76 | ₦30,318,085,906.00 |
| Electrical energy (optional heading) | ₦10,243,574,482.50 | ₦9,731,157,055.78 | ₦8,199,565,724.70 |
| Naphthalene | ₦17,881,832,745.16 | ₦12,736,245,370.00 |
While the year on year (YoY) first-quarter earnings declined for some commodities, others had increased earning. Items with a decline in earning include petroleum and crude oil, cocoa beans, and petroleum gases. Earning from petroleum and crude oil increased by over 50 percent between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018 but declined by 5.6 percent in Q1 2019. Cocoa beans recorded persistent declines of 17.7 percent between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018 and 13.7 percent in Q1 2019. Earning from petroleum gases fell by as much as 66.6 percent during the period under review.
On the other hand, Nigeria recorded persistent increases in revenue earning from other commodities. Earning on liquefied natural gas increased by 29.6 percent between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018. It also earned another 8.3 percent increase between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019. Also, electrical energy trade increased by 18.67 percent and 5.3 percent between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018 and Q1 2018 and Q1 2019, respectively.
Naphthalene trade recorded an increase of over 40 percent between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018. But trade in sesamum seeds recorded the most percentage increase for the period under review. It rose by as much as 104 percent between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018 and another 49 percent between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019.
Going forward, Nigeria should consider increasing investment in export commodities that have demonstrated resistance against market pressures. Recall that the recently released economic sustainability plan proposed revenue diversification measures. Positioning these export items to deliver more revenue will aid the economy at such a time. Also, the government should investigate the declining earnings on some of these commodities. The requisite stimulus should be provided to improve revenue performance for these items.
On the other hand, there is a need to provide measures to improve the efficiency of export earnings. Recently, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission revealed that Togo, Niger, and Benin did not pay up the ₦32.04 billion bill for the electricity supplied by Nigeria in 2019. Such situations should be avoided by beefing up measures to improve the efficiency of trade.