Nigeria's cocoa exports to US hit $142m in 2025, up 554%

Nigeria sold $142m worth of cocoa beans to the United States in 2025, up from $21.7m in 2024 — a rise of 554 per cent, according to the United States Mission in Nigeria.

The mission announced the figures in a social media post on Tuesday. It noted that the numbers cover only the US, adding that trade with Europe, China and India was not included.

For ordinary Nigerians, the figure matters because cocoa is one of the country's biggest farm exports, and dollars earned from it help supply foreign exchange that affects the naira and the price of imported goods.

Why the government wants cocoa processed at home

The rise comes as the Federal Government pushes to stop shipping raw cocoa abroad. In July, President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria should no longer export unprocessed produce while importing finished products like chocolate.

He spoke at the Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026 in Abuja, where he was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari. The President said the country must capture more of the value of its crops, create jobs and attract investment.

At the same event, Kyari said Africa grows about 70 per cent of the world's cocoa but earns only a small share of the global chocolate industry, which is worth more than $130bn. He blamed this on processing, branding and manufacturing happening mostly outside the continent.

The government says its plan is to keep more of that wealth in Nigeria by building local processing capacity.

What happens next

The sources do not say when or how a ban on raw cocoa exports would take effect, or what support farmers and processors would get. For now, the US Mission's figures suggest demand for Nigerian cocoa is strong, even before any change in export rules.

The mission's post urged Nigerians to prepare for the opportunity, saying the country is rising.