By Brandon Moss | AgriFocus Africa
In a historic shift, Nigeria’s cocoa industry has overtaken crude oil as the country’s leading export to Belgium, signaling a profound realignment in West Africa’s trade dynamics. According to the Belgian Ambassador to Nigeria, Pieter Leenknegt, cocoa became Nigeria’s top export to Belgium in 2024—a first in recent memory and a milestone with far-reaching implications for sustainable development and agricultural resilience.
Data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics reveals the scale of this transformation. Cocoa exports surged by 606 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, rising from ₦171 billion in Q4 2023 to ₦1.2 trillion. The momentum continued into 2025, with ₦1.32 trillion in cocoa shipments recorded in Q1 alone, accounting for 77 percent of Nigeria’s total agricultural export value of ₦1.70 trillion.
This boom is driven by a confluence of factors. The sharp depreciation of the naira has made Nigerian cocoa highly competitive on global markets, incentivizing farmers and traders to prioritize exports for foreign exchange earnings. Simultaneously, climate-related production challenges in Ivory Coast and Ghana—traditionally the world’s top cocoa producers—have opened space for Nigeria to capture greater market share.
Ambassador Leenknegt emphasized that this shift presents an opportunity to diversify bilateral trade beyond fossil fuels. “Nigeria’s exports to Belgium have historically been mostly crude oil. Now, that is no longer true in 2024, because cocoa has overtaken crude oil,” he said. He added that agriculture and health will be central to Belgian-Nigerian relations in 2025.
The rise of cocoa is also reshaping Nigeria’s import profile. Refined petroleum imports from Belgium are declining, a trend expected to accelerate with the ramp-up of operations at the Dangote Refinery in Lagos. This shift could further tilt the trade balance in favor of agricultural products.
Yet, experts caution that the cocoa boom is not solely a result of increased production. Many smallholder farmers and exporters are selling raw beans abroad rather than investing in domestic processing. While this boosts short-term earnings, it raises concerns about missed opportunities for value addition, job creation, and long-term sector sustainability.
For sustainability advocates, the cocoa surge offers both promise and challenge. It underscores agriculture’s potential to drive Nigeria’s diversification away from oil dependency, but also highlights the need for climate-smart farming, responsible land management, and investment in local processing. Without these, the gains may prove fleeting.
If supported by strategic policies that incentivize sustainable cultivation, improve supply chain transparency, and expand domestic manufacturing, Nigeria’s cocoa industry could become a model for how African nations adapt to shifting global markets while building greener, more resilient economies.
The cocoa bean may be small, but in Nigeria’s trade relations with Belgium, it has eclipsed the mighty barrel of oil—and with it, perhaps, signaled a future where sustainable agriculture takes center stage in Africa’s growth story.
Source: Premium Times – Cocoa overtakes crude oil as Nigeria’s major export to Belgium in 2024