Nigeria’s trade balance with Belgium has taken a surprising turn, with cocoa exports now outpacing crude oil for the first time in decades.

According to Belgian Ambassador to Nigeria, Pieter Leenknegt, 2024 marked the year cocoa dethroned oil as the country’s leading export to Belgium. Official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show a massive leap — cocoa shipments jumped by over 600% in the last quarter of 2024, soaring from about ₦171 billion the previous year to around ₦1.2 trillion. That upward trend has continued into 2025, with the first quarter alone generating ₦1.32 trillion, making up more than three-quarters of Nigeria’s total agricultural exports for the period.

Experts point to several factors behind the surge: the weakened naira has made Nigerian cocoa highly competitive abroad, while poor harvests in Ivory Coast and Ghana — the world’s top producers — have tightened global supply, opening up new opportunities for Nigerian farmers and traders.

While the country has facilities to process cocoa into chocolate and other products, many exporters prefer selling raw beans to take advantage of higher foreign exchange earnings.

Ambassador Leenknegt also noted other shifts in the trade relationship, including reduced imports of refined fuel from Belgium due to increased output from the Dangote Refinery. He predicts that in the coming years, Belgian-Nigerian trade will focus less on oil and more on sectors like agriculture and healthcare.

This transformation signals a broader change in Nigeria’s export priorities, as the nation begins to diversify away from its decades-long dependence on crude oil.