The renewed ban, which runs from February 26, 2026 to February 25, 2027, was announced Wednesday in Abuja through a statement issued by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga. It follows an initial six-month ban introduced in August 2025 to curb the large-scale export of unprocessed nuts and encourage local refining of the commodity.
According to the Presidency, the extension is driven by a broader ambition to shift Nigeria away from raw commodity exports and toward higher-value manufactured goods. Officials say the policy is designed to deepen processing capacity, improve livelihoods in shea-producing communities, and boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings through finished products rather than raw materials.
To back up the directive with structure, President Tinubu has tasked the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment — working alongside the Presidential Food Security Coordination Unit — with coordinating a unified national framework for shea value chain development. The Nigerian Commodity Exchange’s export regulatory framework has been adopted to standardise shea exports, and all existing waivers that previously permitted the direct export of raw nuts have been cancelled with immediate effect. Any surplus production must now flow strictly through the approved exchange framework.
