Why Nigeria Has a Shea Nut Problem

For the next six months, during Nigeria’s shea nut export ban, they hope to figure out how to produce more lucrative shea-based products.

Nigeria’s Shea Nut Production

While Nigeria grows 40 percent of the world’s shea nuts that are used in products that range from beauty cream to ice cream, it receives just one percent of the $6.5 billion global market. The problem is the value that industry could add. Only then would they produce the oil for shea butter that comes from mashing, roasting, and boiling the nuts.

Nigeria’s vice-president says the export ban will help the women that collect the wild shea nuts, and plant and harvest them. Or, as he expressed, ”It is about industrialization, rural transformation, gender empowerment, and expanding Nigeria’s global trade footprint.”

Gender Parity in Nigeria

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Report 2025, for gender parity, Nigeria ranks #30 in the sub-Saharan region, and 124 in the world.

Reflecting the distance to parity that a nation has achieved, Nigeria’s score is country specific. Assume for example that college enrollment is 100 percent for men and for women in Country A and 60 percent for both in Country B. Though the numbers are very different, the 100 and 60 each show men and women at the same level. Consequently, Countries A and B would have a similar rank. They both display parity.

These are the Report’s four categories:

1. Economic Participation and Opportunity
2. Educational Attainment
3. Health and Survival
4. Political Empowerment

Among the countries with the smallest gender gap, Iceland has topped the list for 16 consecutive years.

Our Bottom Line: Production Possibilities

As economists, we can use production possibilities graphs to display why economies should empower women. Below, with the curve showing the maximum potential of an economy, the dot indicates the underutilization that is created when a country fails to optimize female time and talent:

Through its export ban, if successful, Nigeria would move its dot closer to the curve.

My sources and more: Thanks to the BBC World Business Report podcast for alerting me to the shea nut ban. Next, in its shea nut website, Nigeria looked at the role played by women while the BBC gave us more of the economic details. And from there, it made sense to leap to the bonanza of gender equity data in the 2025 WEF Gender Gap Report.

Please note that several of today’s sentences were in a past econlife post. Our featured image is from Nigeria’s shea nut website.