By Ebunoluwa Sessou

Sterling Bank Limited has called for increased value addition, compliance with international standards, and industrialisation as critical steps towards strengthening Nigeria’s non-oil export sector and reducing the country’s dependence on crude oil earnings.

The bank made the call during the second edition of its Excel in Non-Oil Export Forum held in Lagos with the theme, “Reclaiming Sovereignty: Value Addition, Compliance, and the Future of Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export.”

The forum, co-convened with Sunbeth Global Concepts Limited, brought together exporters, policymakers, regulators, investors and financial experts to deliberate on strategies for enhancing Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global export market.

Participants stressed that Nigeria’s long-term export resilience would depend on increased processing, manufacturing, certification and compliance with global standards rather than continued reliance on the export of raw materials.

Speaking at the event, Divisional Head, Commercial Banking at Sterling Bank, Mr. Akporee Idenedo, said Nigeria must move beyond exporting raw commodities and focus on finished products capable of competing globally.

“We are still exporting potential instead of full value. While Nigeria is the fourth-largest producer of cocoa beans globally, earning billions from exports, the finished chocolate market remains largely untapped. We must move from exporting raw goods to exporting finished products and compete on quality and value rather than price,” he said.

According to him, although Nigeria’s non-oil export sector recorded a historic $6.1 billion (₦12.36 trillion) in exports in 2025, representing an 11.5 per cent year-on-year increase, crude oil still accounts for more than 80 per cent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.

Delivering the keynote address, former Chief Economic Adviser to the President and Senior Fellow at Lagos Business School, Dr. Doyin Salami, urged stakeholders to rethink trade sovereignty by focusing on building practical capabilities that would enable Nigeria participate more effectively in global trade.

Salami noted that Nigeria currently ranks 130th out of 140 countries on the Economic Complexity Index, largely because the country exports mostly raw materials instead of processed products.

He emphasised that compliance with international regulations, including pesticide residue limits and deforestation-free sourcing requirements, had become a prerequisite for accessing global markets.

The economist also identified financial services such as trade finance, cross-border payments and economic intelligence as emerging opportunities capable of generating significant non-oil export revenues for Nigeria.

Sterling Bank highlighted its commitment to supporting exporters through capacity-building initiatives, including its Non-Oil Export Academy developed in partnership with the Enterprise Development Centre, EDC, of Pan-Atlantic University.

Idenedo said the bank’s support extends beyond providing capital to equipping businesses with the knowledge and tools required to thrive in highly regulated international markets.

“Through training on structured trade finance, letters of credit, compliance, risk management and market access, we are supporting the transition from raw commodity exports to value-added manufacturing that can position Nigeria to take advantage of the 1.3 billion consumer market created by the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA,” he added.

Other speakers at the forum included officials from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, One Foundation, NICERT, EKOFIN and industry leaders across agriculture, trade finance and export development.