Source: US News & World Report
“Nigeria’s government has banned the export of raw shea nuts, an essential raw material in many cosmetic products, in a bid to grow the country into a global supplier of refined shea butter and other skincare ingredients. The immediate ban on the crop will be in place for six months and then reviewed, Vice President Kashim Shettima said. Nigeria follows a growing list of other West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Ivory Coast and Ghana, that have banned or restricted export of the crop in the past two years. … The measure came weeks after the northern Niger state opened a shea butter processing plant that officials described as one of Africa’s largest.” (08/28/25)