Nigeria’s exportation of urea has increased by more than 400 per cent in the first half of this year when compared to the same period in 2021.

According to the Foreign Trade in Statistics, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), urea moved to the third position of Nigeria’s top traded exports with N208.3bn in the first quarter and N308.1bn in the second quarter, N516.5bn cumulatively.

But in the first half of 2021, the commodity named ‘Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution,’ was in the eighth position with N31.3bn exported in Q1 of 2021 and N30.7bn in Q2 2021 (N62bn exported).

Meanwhile, N107.1bn of the commodity was bought in Q3 of 2021 while N208bn was bought in Q4 of 2021.

Urea, a major product used for producing fertiliser, is gaining traction in Nigeria with the launch of Africa’s largest fertiliser plant by Dangote Group.

The plant which was commissioned in March has a capacity of three million metric tons annually in its first phase.

During its commissioning, President Muhammadu Buhari said the coming on stream of the plant would create huge opportunities in the areas of employment, trade, warehousing, transport and logistics and greatly create wealth, drastically reduce poverty and secure the future of our nation”.

Also, President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said the new plant would be a game-changer, as it has the capacity to make Nigeria become self-sufficient in fertiliser production, with spare capacity to export to other markets in Africa and the rest of the world.

He said Dangote Fertiliser would ensure the emergence of farmers in the country, providing thousands of jobs and ushering in a new era of agricultural entrepreneurs, (agroprenuers). “This breed of agroprenuers will take to farming on large scales, providing food and raw materials for our industries,” he added.

Daily Trust