that industry isn't pivotal enough in europe for them to bring africans "freedom". but uh if you mean the overall push towards value added industries then yeah, you may be onto something
West African countries to ban the export of Shea butter
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- get these shea nuts
They should. They have a commodity people want. They should try as much as they can to control it. Don't let someone else make all the profits.
As an African, I salute our brothers across the pond for sayin F the middle man…..simultaneously, as an African growing up on the east coast, I’m bout to be ashy af…..
Amerikan Melanin
Veteran
I had a 50lb brick of shea butter wrapped up in my basement like a kilo. My wife used to break some off melt it down and make body butter.
The ban of the raw shea, not the finished product. This thread is clickbait
And its a temporary ban
www.bbc.com
Mansur AbubakarBBC News in Abuja
AFP/Getty Images
Nigeria is the world's largest producer of shea nuts, harvesting about 350,000 tonnes a year
Nigeria has announced a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts from which many beauty creams are made.
The move is aimed at making the trade more lucrative as Nigeria is losing out by not producing much shea butter locally.
The country produces nearly 40% of the world's annual crop, but it only accounts for 1% of the $6.5bn (£4.8bn) global market - a situation Vice-President Kashim Shettima described as "unacceptable".
Harvested fruit from shea nut trees have to be crushed, roasted and boiled to extract their oil to produce the shea butter used in cosmetics.
The butter is also used in the food industry in the production of some sweets like chocolate and ice creams - and in pharmaceuticals too.
Shea trees grow in the wild from West to East Africa - a vast strip known as the "shea belt". Small-scale farmers, often women, also plant and harvest them in these areas.
Shettima said the temporary ban would enable Nigeria to move from being an exporter of the raw nuts to a global supplier of refined shea products.
''It is about industrialisation, rural transformation, gender empowerment and expanding Nigeria's global trade footprint," the vice-president said during the announcement at State House in the capital, Abuja.
The short-term aim, he said, was to see Nigeria's earnings from the fruit of the shea nut trees grow from $65m to $300m annually.
Nigeria Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari has said the West African nation produces a crop of 350,000 tonnes a year - with nearly 25% of that disappearing over the borders in unregulated informal trade.
According to agriculture expert Dr Ahmed Ismail, much of the harvest comes from villages in central Nigeria.
''A lot of poor people who grow the crop and rely on it for sustenance are struggling to get by because of a lack of regulation, which means they get so little despite its high value internationally," the academic from the Federal University of Minna told the BBC.
Farmers unaware of the true value of shea nuts were often exploited by businessmen who travel to these remote areas to buy it cheaply, he explained.
''I went to a village and I saw shea nuts in heaps and when I asked, they said someone from the city comes to buy and take them away."
Dr Ismail said the temporary ban was a bold step that should have been taken long ago - and should go hand-in-hand with better regulation.
"This will not only provide more jobs locally as refining will be done here, but will also enhance income for the government,'' he said.
And its a temporary ban
Nigeria bans export of shea nuts used in beauty creams for six months
The country wants to move from being the biggest exporter of raw nuts to producing more shea butter.
www.bbc.com
Nigeria bans export of shea nuts used in beauty creams for six months
1 day agoMansur AbubakarBBC News in Abuja
Nigeria is the world's largest producer of shea nuts, harvesting about 350,000 tonnes a year
Nigeria has announced a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts from which many beauty creams are made.
The move is aimed at making the trade more lucrative as Nigeria is losing out by not producing much shea butter locally.
The country produces nearly 40% of the world's annual crop, but it only accounts for 1% of the $6.5bn (£4.8bn) global market - a situation Vice-President Kashim Shettima described as "unacceptable".
Harvested fruit from shea nut trees have to be crushed, roasted and boiled to extract their oil to produce the shea butter used in cosmetics.
The butter is also used in the food industry in the production of some sweets like chocolate and ice creams - and in pharmaceuticals too.
Shea trees grow in the wild from West to East Africa - a vast strip known as the "shea belt". Small-scale farmers, often women, also plant and harvest them in these areas.
Shettima said the temporary ban would enable Nigeria to move from being an exporter of the raw nuts to a global supplier of refined shea products.
''It is about industrialisation, rural transformation, gender empowerment and expanding Nigeria's global trade footprint," the vice-president said during the announcement at State House in the capital, Abuja.
The short-term aim, he said, was to see Nigeria's earnings from the fruit of the shea nut trees grow from $65m to $300m annually.
Nigeria Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari has said the West African nation produces a crop of 350,000 tonnes a year - with nearly 25% of that disappearing over the borders in unregulated informal trade.
According to agriculture expert Dr Ahmed Ismail, much of the harvest comes from villages in central Nigeria.
''A lot of poor people who grow the crop and rely on it for sustenance are struggling to get by because of a lack of regulation, which means they get so little despite its high value internationally," the academic from the Federal University of Minna told the BBC.
Farmers unaware of the true value of shea nuts were often exploited by businessmen who travel to these remote areas to buy it cheaply, he explained.
''I went to a village and I saw shea nuts in heaps and when I asked, they said someone from the city comes to buy and take them away."
Dr Ismail said the temporary ban was a bold step that should have been taken long ago - and should go hand-in-hand with better regulation.
"This will not only provide more jobs locally as refining will be done here, but will also enhance income for the government,'' he said.
Nigeria bans exports of raw shea nuts used for cosmetic products to help grow local economy
The Nigerian government has announced a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts, an essential raw material for making cosmetic products.
apnews.com
Nigeria bans exports of raw shea nuts used for cosmetic products to help grow local economy
Nigeria bans exports of raw shea nuts used for cosmetic products to help grow local economy
A woman sells shea butter on a street, in Abuja, Nigeria, Thursday, Aug 28, 2025. (AP Photo/David Durowaiye)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s government has banned the export of raw shea nuts, an essential raw material in many cosmetic products, in a bid to grow the country into a global supplier of refined shea butter and other skincare ingredients.
The immediate ban on the crop will be in place for six months and then reviewed, Vice President Kashim Shettima said.
Nigeria follows a growing list of other West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Ivory Coast and Ghana, that have banned or restricted export of the crop in the past two years.
“The ban will transform Nigeria from an exporter of raw shea nut to a global supplier of refined shea butter, oil, and other derivatives,” Shettima said Tuesday.
He added that the decision was not “an anti-trade policy but a pro-value addition policy designed to secure raw materials for our processing factories” and boost income and jobs for rural workers.
Raw shea nut is pulverized and processed to produce shea butter, a key ingredient for manufacturing products like lotion, shampoos, conditioners and moisturizers.
“It is one of the most important bases for skincare, especially now that a lot of people are tilting toward nontoxic skincare,” said Zainab Bashir, an Abuja-based dermatologist.
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While Nigeria accounts for 40% of the world’s supply of the crop, it contributes to just 1% of the $6.5-billion global market share in shea products, according to the vice president.
The measure came weeks after the northern Niger state opened a shea butter processing plant that officials described as one of Africa’s largest.
Authorities said that if the export ban remains in force, it is expected to generate $300 million in the short term and $3 billion by 2027.
Experts have argued that such efforts must come with more investment to grow domestic industries.
“The ban seems to suggest that the government has identified a supply-gap issue, but an export ban does little actually to lock in current in-country production solely for Nigerian processors,” Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based risk advisory firm, told The Associated Press.
The move appeared to contradict the long-standing trade policy of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who has positioned the country as a free-market economy by removing a series of subsidies on essential commodities such as fuel and electricity. Tinubu has also floated the country’s currency and reversed a ban on the import of dozens of items by the former government.
Richard Glidewell
Yall done tore all the bottom of ya shoes w/me!!!
So the processing has to occur in the country?!? Good on them
Good for them
Shorty at 1m6s.
Shorty at 1m6s.
Eddie Brock
All Star
Dam, I buy my raw 100% pure African shea butter from a Ghanaian breh that owns an African imports store in the hood down here. I’m gonna have to buy atleast two cases next time
TELL ME YA CHEESIN FAM?
I walk around a little edgy already
This is heartbreaking as fukk.
I may have to buy a shyt ton before it goes away
I may have to buy a shyt ton before it goes away
Chrishaune
Veteran
It's what needs to be done, taking control of their own resources.
but guaranteed they need to arm up for defense against the West.
More than likely Europe will try to access more Cocoa farms in Central and South America.
Africa just needs to become more independent.
but guaranteed they need to arm up for defense against the West.
More than likely Europe will try to access more Cocoa farms in Central and South America.
Africa just needs to become more independent.
TELL ME YA CHEESIN FAM?
I walk around a little edgy already
there is money to be made in Africa
MischievousMonkey
Gor bu dëgër
ay chill 
I mostly get mine from francophone countries so it's good 
For now
I mostly get mine from francophone countries so it's good For now