Composition and Direction for Nigeria

Nigeria exports, primarily, petroleum and other raw materials such as cocoa, rubber, palm kernels, organic oils, and fats. She imports secondary products such as chemicals, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, and animals. The dependence on oil and a few other commodities for export caused Nigeria to become especially vulnerable to world oil price fluctuations.

During the colonial years, Britain was Nigeria’s leading trading partner. After independence, Nigeria diversified its trading partners. She now trades worldwide with about 100 countries. The United States replaced Britain as the primary trading partner in the 1970s. However, Britain remains Nigeria’s leading vendor, selling the former colony more than 14% of its imports in the 1990s. Other major trading partners are Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, Italy, and Spain. Nigeria’s trade with sister African countries, mainly with other West African members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, created in 1975), was only about 4% of her total trade in 1990.