Nigeria did more than exporting just crude oil and a few agricultural products in 2020, with nothing to show in the tech sector. As a largely import-dependent country, the country has struggled for years to shore up its foreign reserves and the value of the Naira, suffering repeated trade deficits. While it imports everything from high-tech equipment to soybean to tooth picks, Nigeria’s primary export item is crude oil. It also sells cocoa, cashew and a few more farms products. But in the fourth quarter of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic pounded the economy, Nigeria exported some manufactured and technological items too. The latest trade report of the National Bureau of Statistics released last week, list the items as helicopters, floating or submersible drilling platform, dredgers, other self-propelled machinery and floating structures.
The value of manufactured goods trade in Q4, 2020 stood at N3,955 trillion, representing 43.4 per cent of total trade. Of this, the export component accounted for N129 billion. The country exported helicopters of an unladen weight exceeding 2000 kg to Ghana, valued at N10.5 billion. It is unclear if the helicopters were used. Export of manufactured goods, under which the helicopters were categorised, accounted for N129 billion during the quarter. Other manufactured items the country exported were floating or submersible drilling platform, exported to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. They were worth N76.73 billion and N10.2 billion respectively.