In August, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu imposed a six-month ban on shea nut exports, a vital ingredient in the multi-billion-dollar global cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical industries. Nigeria accounts for more than 40 of global production, most of which is harvested by women and sold to middlemen and exporters.
Only 1 of the global value of the produce is retained in Nigeria, according to officials of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit that recommended the ban. "Nigeria's shea is our green wealth," said Tinubu as he announced the ban. "I have approved a six-month suspension of raw shea exports to secure supply for local processors, create jobs and protect a value chain where 95 of pickers are women."
Governments across the continent are insisting on more local processing and discarding the old model of exporting raw materials and importing expensive finished goods made with them. The Tinubu administration is seeking to replicate this template across the agricultural and extractive industries.
