Economy
Nigeria Posts N5.17trn Surplus as Trade Value Falls to N36.02trn in Q1 2025
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria recorded a trade surplus of N5.17 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report.
This affirmed that the country’s exports rose faster than imports for yet another quarter.
The report showed that the country’s total merchandise trade stood at N36.02 trillion in the period under review, higher than the N33.93 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024 by 6.19 per cent, but lower than the N36.60 trillion achieved in the previous quarter by 1.58 per cent.
Total exports were valued at N20.60 trillion, accounting for 57.18 per cent of total trade. This represents a 7.42 per cent increase from ₦19.18 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2024 and 2.92 per cent higher than the N20.01 trillion posted in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Meanwhile, imports came in at N15.43 trillion during the period, 4.59 per cent more than the N14.75 trillion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024, but 7.02 per cent lower than the N16.59 trillion of the preceding quarter.
The NBS report showed that Nigeria’s export trade continued to be dominated by crude oil, which was valued at N12.96 trillion and accounted for about 62.89 per cent of total exports, while non-crude oil exports were valued at N7.64 trillion, representing 37.11 per cent of total exports, and non-oil products contributed N3.17 trillion or 15.38 per cent of the export value.
The NBS noted that India, the Netherlands, the United States, France and Spain were Nigeria’s major export partners during the quarter.
On the import side, China remained Nigeria’s largest trading partner, followed by India, the United States, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
Major commodities exported during the period included crude oil, liquefied natural gas, petroleum gases, urea and cocoa beans, while key imports included gas oil, motor spirit, crude petroleum oils, cane sugar for refining and durum wheat.
The stats office added that the country’s positive trade balance rose by more than 50 per cent compared with the previous quarter, reflecting a stronger export performance
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
