A truckload of cashew from Oyo State heads west towards the Seme border rather than east to Lagos port. By the time the shipment reaches Vietnam, the cashew is recorded on paper as Togolese, not Nigerian.
This journey explains why Nigeria, a top cashew, soybean, shea butter and cocoa grower, keeps missing export revenue, while neighbours with little domestic output report booming shipments.
Traders and farmers told BusinessDay that intermittent export restrictions on unprocessed crops, high handling costs and Lagos port delays have made overland routes cheaper and more predictable than shipping directly from Nigeria.
The diversion is weakening Nigeria’s position in regional agricultural trade, as neighbouring countries record shipments of commodities they produce in smaller quantities or do not grow domestically, according to some traders.
Obiora Madu, an international trade expert, said the diversion trend to neighbouring countries is driven by credibility issues, tariffs, policy inconsistency, weak naira, port inefficiencies, and logistics bottlenecks, among others.
“Traders are looking for the easiest way to do business and be profitable,” Madu said in a telephone response to questions.
“Our entire ecosystem is not working to support exporters, and this creates room for these diversions of our commodities to neighbouring countries,” he noted.
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Madu pointed to a recent Reuters report on soybean exports from Niger that likely originated in Nigeria as a “clear example” of the rerouting, adding that Nigeria is losing revenue and foreign exchange proceeds the shipments would have generated.
Nigeria turned to agriculture to diversify exports after oil prices slumped in 2016, but recurring export bans, high port costs and quality issues have continued to weigh on shipments.
In 2024, Togo exported 168, 372 metric tons of cashew, according to data from the United Nations Comtrade.
The figure is about 20 times the country’s actual production of 8,405 metric tonnes for the period, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
A similar mismatch has been flagged for Niger soybean shipments by Indian authorities.
India’s soybean imports surged to a record 909,606 tons in the first seven months of 2026 from just 1,996 tons a year earlier, while shipments declared as originating in Niger rose to 380,868 tons from zero, India trade ministry data show.
Ismail Abdulazeez, chief executive officer of EFN Product and Service Ltd, said that the exchange rate is another major factor driving rerouting to neighbouring countries.
“The CFA is stronger than the Naira. It is almost three times the naira,” he said.
One West African CFA franc traded at N2.28 on Monday, according to Central Bank of Nigeria data.
He added that ports in Lomé and Cotonou are more efficient and cheaper, with faster shipping times than ports in Lagos – Nigeria’s commercial centre.
Higher prices at the border
Farmers in border communities are also getting higher prices selling to aggregators trucking crops to neighboring countries, lured by a stronger CFA franc against the naira and cheaper logistics costs than shipping through Nigerian ports.
Traders from Parakou in northern Benin are sourcing cashew, soybeans and shea butter in Nigeria for re-export, drawn by the CFA franc’s premium to the naira, Abdulazeez said.
He noted that it is affecting the country’s revenue while its neighbours are gaining at Nigeria’s expense.
An aggregator in Kwara told BusinessDay that he pays farmers N1million per ton for soybean trucked to Benin, compared with N800,000 net to the farmer after port levies and registration for direct export via Lagos.
Felix Oladunjoye, an exporter based in Lagos State, said traders are responding to market incentives.
“Traders want to be profitable, and you have a neighbouring country giving you that ecosystem, so what do you want the trader to do?” Oladunjoye asked in an interview.
It is the duty of any government to protect its exporters and generate revenue, he said, adding that high port costs and multiple levies in Nigeria have made formal exports uncompetitive.
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Josephine Okojie-Okeiyi is a journalist with over five years’ reporting experience. She writes on industry, agriculture, commodities, climate change, and environmental issues. She is fellow of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa.
