Senator Muhammad Bima Enagi has described Nigeria as a powerhouse in Shea butter production, accounting for 35-40% of the world’s supply.
Bima made this known during a chat with newsmen in Abuja, stating that despite this dominance, Nigeria captures less than 1% of the current $6.5 billion global market, projected to expand to nearly $9 billion by 2030.
He noted that most cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical companies profiting from Shea butter as raw materials are foreign, leaving local factories without benefits.
This, Bima said prompted him to sponsor the National Shea Development Council Bill at the 9th Assembly aimed at shifting focus to local value-added processing and investment.
According to him, ” The Bill created a pragmatic roadmap towards unlocking the potential in the sector and also opening it up for Investors”
” A development that birth the establishment of the largest shea nuts refining Industry in the Niger South Senatorial District of Niger State.”
The Senator also highlighted the government’s goal to generate over $300 million quarterly in processed Shea product exports.
He decried the current gap to Nigeria’s factories operating at 35-50% utilization, with an installed processing capacity of 160,000 tonnes.
” The Government near -term ambitious goal for the sector was to generate over $300 million quarterly in processed shea product exports, with even greater targets as processing capacity scale up.
“Also, Nigeria’s factories have an installed processing capacity of about 160,000 tonnes but operate at just 35–50% utilization”. Bridging this gap is the key operational challenge which is presently being addressed by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ban on exportation of shea nuts, ” Bima stated. .
He further noted, ” if Nigeria’s shea butter sector is finally positioned as a commodity which has a great comparative advantage globally, it will go a long way to transform the economy of the Niger South Senatorial District which is the leading producers of shea nuts in the country”
” It is one of the reasons why I will be seeking for re-election into the Senate during the 2027 general election to continue the crusade towards the realization of a developed Shea Sector.” Senator Bima declared.