The data was obtained by converting the foreign trade value to dollars even as dollar is a largely globally accepted trade currency.
The President Bola Tinubu-led administration had promised to make Nigeria a hub of exports and imports, but an assessment of how Nigeria has fared in the last one year showed a rapid decline under his administration, SaharaReporters' analysis has shown.
The data was obtained by converting the foreign trade value to dollars even as dollar is a largely globally accepted trade currency.
The dollar rate used in this report is around how the dollar to naira rate hovered in each period.
The review shows that the export of the country fell by over $3 billion ($3.7 billion) between first quarter of 2022 and first quarter of 2024.
The export value in the first quarter of 2022 stood at $17.1 billion while exports in the first quarter of 2024 was $13.4 billion.
Some of Nigeria’s top trading partners in the first quarter of 2024 are; France, Spain, India, and the United States.
Imports were made mostly from China, India, the United States, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Tinubu came into power in May 2023, which means that foreign trade data under him started from the third quarter of 2023 up to the most recent first quarter of 2024.
The first quarter of 2024, exports stood at N19.1trillion while imports stood at N12.6trillion.
The exports stood at $13.4billion while Imports stood at $8.8billion.
The conversion for the first quarter of 2024, was used through $1 to N1421, which was the last currency conversion value on the last day of March.
In the corresponding period of 2023 (Q1, 2023), exports stood at N6.4 trillion with an equivalent $13.9 billion while imports was also $13.9 billion at N6.4 trillion.
The conversion rate of $1 to N460.3 was used.
This would mean that between first quarter 2024 and first quarter 2023, exports dropped from $13.9 billion to $13.4 billion.
Imports however dropped from $13.9 billion in quarter 1, 2023 to $8.8 billion in q1 2024.
Nigerians' ability to import may be hampered by the dollar to naira rate, with the dollar becoming more expensive, meaning that more naira are needed to import lesser goods into the country.
In naira terms, Nigerians actually spent more on importation but only got less.
For instance, imports in the first quarter of 2023 was N6.4 trillion while imports in the first quarter of 2024 stood at N12.6 trillion, meaning that despite spending almost twice of what was spent in the first quarter of 2023, Nigerians could only import less, due to volatility of the dollar to naira exchange rate.
In the first quarter of 2022, Imports stood at N7.4 trillion which equates to $17.8 billion while exports stood at N7.1 trillion which meant $17.1 billion, at an exchange rate of $1 to N415.6.
It would also mean that Nigeria’s export value dropped from $17.1 billion in the first quarter of 2022, to $13.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Imports also dropped from $17.8 billion in the Q1,2022 to $8.8 billion in Q1,2024.
In the third quarter of 2023, when Tinubu was already in power, imports stood at N9 trillion, which is $11.5 billion while exports stood at N10.3 trillion which is $13.2 billion.
In the same period in the preceding year, the third quarter of 2022, imports stood at N6.3 trillion, which in dollar terms is $14.5 billion while exports was N5.9 trillion which in dollar terms is $13.6 billion. An exchange rate of N433.2 to one dollar was used.
By implication, exports by Nigeria fell from $13.6 billion in the third quarter of 2022 to $13.2 billion in the third quarter of 2023. Imports also fell from $14.5 billion in the third quarter of 2022 to $11.5 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the country’s export value in naira terms stood at N12.6 trillion while in dollar terms was $14 billion. Imports were valued at N9 trillion which translated to a dollar value of $10 billion. The exchange rate used was N897.6 to one dollar.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the exports value stood at N6.3 trillion, while dollar value was $14 billion. In terms of imports, the value recorded was N5.3 trillion which translated to $11.8 billion.
Nigerians have been battling with inflation which experts blame in part on the devaluation of naira given that Nigeria is largely an import dependent country.