By Cynthia Alo & Kafayat Kokumo
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, has said that it is targeting between $9 billion and $10 billion in non-oil exports by 2035 from the South-West region through increased agricultural production, value addition and export-oriented industrialisation.
Regional Coordinator, Southwest, NEPC, Mr. Benedict Itegbe, disclosed this on Wednesday at the two-day 2026 Annual Agro-Allied Symposium and Exhibition organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
Itegbe said Nigeria formally exported $6.1 billion in 2025, with raw cocoa beans alone accounting for $2 billion, about 33 per cent of the country’s exports.
He stated: “There’s no gain saying that the way forward is export-oriented industrialisation for agriculture.
We believe that we can sustain this trajectory through to 2035, where we are projecting that the South-West alone can contribute between $9 and $10 billion to non-oil exports.”
According to him, about 60 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa value comes from the South-West, while the cocoa complex could reach $4 billion at a 10 per cent compound annual growth rate.
Itegbe said non-oil exports had increased by 11.5 per cent, with an average 10 per cent growth in volume and value recorded over the past three years.
Also speaking at the event, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Olusanya, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Audu, said agricultural development must extend beyond production to processing, manufacturing, logistics, technology, retail and exports.
She said: “Nigeria’s agricultural future will not be determined solely by how much we produce. It will be determined strongly by how much value we create from what we produce.”
In his keynote address, Managing Director/CEO of the Bank of Agriculture, BoA, Mr. Ayodeji Sotinrin, said agricultural growth without local processing remained incomplete.
The BoA chief, who was represented by the bank’s Southwest Zonal Manager, Mr. Nurudeen Olusiji, said: “Agricultural growth without local processing is an incomplete journey. Nigeria grows food, but too often we export raw potential and import finished value.
Cassava, grains, livestock, oil palm and other commodities leave our rural communities in their primary state, while the processing margin, wealth and employment opportunities are captured elsewhere.
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