…imports $600m Palm Oil in 2025
Nigeria currently does not have any share in the about $300 billion global oil palm market, an oil palm expert, Lawal Olusola Lawal, said.
Lawal also noted that the country currently spends 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.
Lawal spoke at the unveiling of his book: Why Europe is Demonizing the Oil Palm Tree:Trade Protectionism Disguised as Climate Advocacy.
He said “the global palm oil market is about $300 billion and Nigeria does not have a stake in it” 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 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.
Lawal who is an oil palm development expert and Senior Agricultural Officer with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security said “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.”
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 also lamented a situation where Nigeria was importing palm oil from neighbouring countries, further illustrating the extent of the country’s production deficit despite favourable climate and long history of oil palm cultivation.
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.
He explained 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.
He stressed,“oil palm produces numerous commercially valuable products, creating opportunities in food production, cosmetics, manufacturing, machinery, waste recycling and other industries.”
He argued further that 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.
These countries, he said, had demonstrated how investment in oil palm could lift millions of people out of poverty while generating substantial foreign exchange.
Lawal who had earlier authored another book “How to Build Generational Wealth Through Oil Farming in Nigeria” dedicated to solving the nation’s oil palm production plight 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.
He therefore 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.
He 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.
Speaking on the book, Lawal said it is intended to spark some conversation.
The book, he said aimed at countering dominant narratives and making a compelling case for fairness, sustainability and economic justice for oil palm producing nations.
He quarried Europe linking oil palm to deforestation, fires and other environmental impacts.
Lawal challenged Europe to beam the same scrutiny on other alternatives like soybean, sunflower and rest.
He said the oil palm is the most efficient oil-bearing crop in the world.
He therefore sees the book as a way for the country telling its own story so as not to be kicked out of the market.
The book launch had in attendance the representatives of various groups in the oil palm industry, top government officials and foreign diplomats.
The Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture and food security was also represented and Director of Extension Nigeria Institute of Oil Palm Research, Dr. Segun Solomon also graced the occasion.
