By Ayomide Otitoju
Zenith Bank Plc has called for stronger value addition, improved trade infrastructure and greater access to financing to accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s non-oil exports.
The call was made at the 10th edition of the bank’s International Trade Seminar on Non-Oil Export, held virtually on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, under the theme, “Unlocking Value and Harnessing Growth.”
The annual seminar brought together policymakers, regulators, exporters, manufacturers, investors and development partners from Africa and beyond to examine ways of strengthening Nigeria’s position in regional and global trade.
In her welcome address, Zenith Bank’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dame Adaora Umeoji, OON, said Nigeria must build on the growth recorded in non-oil exports by moving beyond the shipment of raw commodities and increasing local value addition.
Umeoji said non-oil exports reached a record $6.1 billion in 2025, representing an 11.5 per cent increase from $5.46 billion in 2024 and a significant rise from $612 million a decade earlier, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
She said Zenith Bank was supporting exporters through initiatives linked to the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System.
“Our theme, ‘Unlocking Value and Harnessing Growth’, is not just a slogan. It speaks to the opportunities before us and the need to translate our collective efforts into sustainable economic value,” she said.
Umeoji also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for reforms aimed at creating a more favourable business environment, while recognising the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reforms under Governor Olayemi Cardoso.
She urged Nigeria to accelerate the production and export of finished goods rather than relying heavily on raw material exports.
Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said Nigeria must deepen trade and investment reforms, improve the export environment and expand market access within Africa and beyond.
Oduwole said the priority should no longer be simply to increase export volumes but to ensure that more value is retained within Nigeria.
“The question before us now is not simply how to export more, but how to retain more value in Nigeria from everything we export,” she said.
She said the government was focused on improving domestic production, processing, market access, financing, infrastructure and trade systems to help Nigerian businesses scale.
Oduwole also highlighted Nigeria’s role in the AfCFTA, noting that the country’s position as a digital trade co-champion could help Nigerian businesses access markets across the continent.
She urged financial institutions to move beyond financing individual export transactions and support the development of export capacity, while encouraging businesses to invest in productivity, quality and skills.
The Chair of the Board of Directors of the Fund for Export Development in Africa and immediate past President and Chairman of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, said Africa must develop stronger internal demand, improve its participation in global supply chains and build the capacity to finance its own trade and industries.
Oramah described the theme of the seminar as timely, saying Africa’s economic future would depend increasingly on its ability to create markets, finance production and strengthen its industrial capacity.
The Founder and Executive Chair of Plot Enterprise Ghana Limited, Patricia Poku-Diaby, also called for greater investment in processing and manufacturing.
She said Nigeria and other African countries must move from being suppliers of raw materials to becoming producers, processors, manufacturers and exporters of competitive African brands.
On the Nigeria-United Kingdom trade relationship, the UK Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Florence Eshalomi, represented by Mujina Kaindama, Head of Trade Policy for UK Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, said Nigerian businesses could gain greater returns by moving up the value chain.
She said processing raw materials, developing branded products and producing higher-value agricultural and manufactured goods would help create jobs and support sustainable economic growth.
The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, said the private sector would play a central role in Africa’s economic transformation.
Mene said the success of the AfCFTA would ultimately depend on the ability of African businesses to use the agreement to access new markets, expand investment and increase productive capacity.
The seminar featured separate public and private sector panel sessions focusing on trade facilitation, customs efficiency, logistics, access to funding, market intelligence, product certification and competitiveness.
The 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.
The private sector panel featured representatives of Starlink Global & Ideal Limited, Dangote Group, 3T Impex Trade Centre, Terra Aqua Environmental Consultancy Nigeria Limited, RMM Global Company Limited, Psaltry International and Lelook Nigeria Limited.
Discussions centred on removing trade barriers, increasing value addition, improving product quality and certification, strengthening market intelligence and providing structured financing to help exporters expand.
Launched in 2015, the Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar on Non-Oil Export has become a platform for dialogue on Nigeria’s non-oil export potential.
The 2026 edition attracted thousands of participants from 97 countries and was streamed across Zoom, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok.
The seminar ended with renewed calls for stronger partnerships, financing and practical support to enable Nigerian businesses to compete more effectively in African and global markets.
