The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have entered into partnership that would enable and facilitate data collection from Informal Cross Border Trade.
Speaking while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NBS in Abuja, the Executive Director of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, said the partnership marked a major turning point in Nigeria’s quest to grow its export trade through the capturing of data in the informal sector.
She explained that existing trade data primarily capture activities within the formal sector, offering limited visibility into informal export trade transactions, despite their significant volume and economic impact.
“In 2024, formal export trade records indicate that 7.291 million metric tons of non-oil products valued at US$5.456 billion, were exported from Nigeria. This figure excludes informal export trade data.
“Informal export trade representing millions of dollars in goods and services has remained largely outside our official records. Informal export trade data collected by NEPC State offices from major corridors in Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Lagos, Ogun, and Adamawa reveal transactions valued at over $31.8 million in some months of 2024,” she said.
Ayeni disclosed that reports from the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN), revealed that over 1.6 million bags worth of the commodity were traded informally to neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Cote D Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, and Niger Republic.
she noted that these impressive achievements were not captured in the national export trade statistics thus portending real implications for economic planning for the country.
It weakens Nigeria’s voice in regional and global trade negotiations, it denies informal traders the recognition and support they need to thrive as well as diminishes Nigeria’s economic potential, especially the vital contributions of women, youth, and MSMEs”.
The ED stated that the collaboration between the Council and the NBS was borne out of the desire to correct the imbalance and capture the full spectrum of Nigeria’s export trade activity.
On his part, the Statistician General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran said that the meeting of key players from national and sub-national agencies, regional institutions, international development partners, and the organised private sector, reflects the strong spirit of collaboration required to address one of the most pressing challenges in Nigeria’s trade data architecture, capturing and integrating data from informal trade and trade in services into the national framework.
He is of the view that the data gap severely impedes evidence-based policymaking, “limits our capacity to engage in fair trade negotiations, and undermines the accuracy of our macroeconomic indicators.r
“Taditional trade measurement systems have long focused on formal, large-scale transactions while overlooking the vibrancy of informal trade routes. This must be corrected if we are to align our economic statistics with reality”.
