Since 2016, Nigeria’s cotton export has taken a downward trend due to lack of critical infrastructure for the growth of the sector and supportive policy measures.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), as at 2016, Nigeria’s cotton production was 51,000MT on 253,000 hectares, and its consumption and exports were 28,000 and25,000MT respectively.
In 2019, Nigeria exported $10.1M raw cotton, making it the 38th largest exporter of raw cotton in the world. The fastest growing exports market for Nigeria are India, China, and the Netherlands.
Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad are the four major cotton producers in Africa.
West Africa takes the sixth position on the list of largest cotton producer with Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso as the sixth, seventh and eighth largest cotton producing countries in the world.
