Nigeria is spending about $600 million annually importing palm oil and its derivatives, despite being one of the crop’s natural homes and having the potential to become a major global producer and exporter, an industry stakeholder has disclosed.
The development, described as a major reversal of Nigeria’s fortunes in the oil palm industry, has raised fresh concerns over the country’s dependence on imports for a commodity it once produced in significant quantities for the international market.
The stakeholder, Lawal Olusola Lawal, who spoke at the unveiling of his book: “Trade Protectionism Disguised as Climate Advocacy: Why Europe is Demonizing the Oil Palm Tree,” said Nigeria had historically contributed about 45 per cent of global vegetable oil demand, but had since lost its competitive position following years of neglect and inadequate investment.
He said the country currently produces only about half of the palm oil required for domestic consumption, leaving a substantial supply deficit that is being met through imports.
“It is very disheartening that the commodity we used to sell to others is what we are now importing back into the country to augment our local production,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria’s import bill for palm oil and palm oil products stood at about $600 million in 2025, representing foreign exchange that could have been retained in the economy through increased domestic production and processing.
He said the problem went beyond the importation of crude palm oil, noting that Nigeria also imports many of the industrial derivatives required by manufacturers.
“About 100 per cent of the industrial derivatives used in industries, including the production of creamers, noodles and other products, are not being produced in Nigeria,” he said.
He attributed the situation largely to the failure to develop the country’s oil palm value chain beyond primary production.
The stakeholder argued that oil palm should no longer be viewed simply as a crop for producing cooking oil, stressing that the industry could support a broad manufacturing ecosystem and generate employment across several sectors.
According to him, oil palm produces numerous commercially valuable products, creating opportunities in food production, cosmetics, manufacturing, machinery, waste recycling and other industries.
He said the crop could produce different forms of oil for food and industrial applications, while its waste products could also be converted into other commercially useful materials.
“If we have a working industry, you have people working in the production of machinery, people collecting waste materials and turning them into other products,” he said.
He cited the experiences of Indonesia and Malaysia, which have developed their oil palm sectors into major sources of employment, export earnings and rural development.
The countries, he said, had demonstrated how investment in oil palm could lift millions of people out of poverty while generating substantial foreign exchange.
The stakeholder, who had earlier authored another book “How to Build Generational Wealth Through Oil Farming in Bigeria” dedicated to solving the nation’s oil palm production plight put the global palm oil market at about $300 billion, arguing that Nigeria should be taking advantage of the huge international market rather than using scarce foreign exchange to import products that can be produced locally.
He also disclosed that Nigeria was importing palm oil from neighbouring countries, further illustrating the extent of the country’s production deficit.
The development comes despite Nigeria’s favourable climate and long history of oil palm cultivation.
The stakeholder said the country had the land, climate and human resources required to regain its position but had failed to take advantage of those natural advantages.
Asked where Nigeria went wrong, he gave a blunt assessment: “One of the ways we got it wrong is negligence.”
He called for renewed investment in plantations, improved seedlings, modern processing facilities, access to affordable financing, research and development, and policies capable of attracting private-sector investment into the industry.
Lawal also urged policymakers to approach oil palm as an integrated industrial value chain rather than simply an agricultural commodity.
The revival of the sector, he argued, could help Nigeria reduce its import bill, conserve foreign exchange, create millions of jobs and ultimately return the country to the global export market.
For Nigeria, which once played a dominant role in the international oil palm trade, the shift from selling palm oil to the world to buying it from neighbouring countries is increasingly becoming a symbol of the wider challenge facing the country’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
The industry stakeholder maintained that reversing the trend remained possible, but warned that it would require sustained investment and an end to the neglect that allowed Nigeria to lose ground to countries that have successfully turned oil palm into a major economic engine.
