Cost of Bringing Food Into Nigeria from Africa

Nigeria spends millions importing food like apples, palm oil, fish, beans & margarine from other African countries?

Local demand is way higher than production. For example, fish has a yearly demand of over 3 million metric tons, but only 1.07million tonnes are produced.

Additionally, Nigeria once led the world in palm oil production, but today it can only meet half of its domestic needs. It has fallen from 40% of global supply in the 1960s to less than 2% now.

When it comes to tariffs, West African nations belonging to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) enjoy 0% tariffs, but other regions like South Africa face 20% and Cameroon 24.5% depending on the product being imported.

Despite the existence of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa still trades far more with Asia & Europe than with Africa.

This infographic was published in collaboration with One Page Forum- a platform where people share their experiences and ideas to help shape better policies.