Africa’s Commodity Export Value Slumped 5.6% in Two Years as Oil Prices, Volumes Drop — UNCTAD Warns of Deepening Vulnerability

The export value of raw materials in Africa decreased by 5.6% between 2021 and 2023, caused by a 20% drop in average oil prices and by reducing the export volumes of its main gross producers – Nigeria, Angola and Algeria.

This is according to a newly published report from the United Nations Commerce and Development Conference (UNCTAD) entitled the state of dependence on the 2025 goods, which depicts a striking table of the strong dependence on the continent with regard to raw exports and deepening of the exposure to world shocks.

UNCTAD has attributed the slowdown to a combination of low petroleum demand and ineffectiveness of production in the main African oil economies.

“Africa, on the other hand, experienced a 5.6% drop in the value of its exports of raw materials … mainly due to a 20% drop in the average oil prices and a significant drop in export volumes for the main oil exporters on the continent, namely Algeria, Angola and Nigeria,” said the report.

The United Nations organization has revealed that more than two -thirds of developing countries – 95 out of 143 – remained dependent on the basic products between 2021 and 2023. The situation is even more alarming among the poorest nations in the world, with more than 80% of the least developed countries (LDC) which still depend on exports of primary products.

“Such dependence, for a long time, has a global concern, hinders economic resilience and leaves developing countries vulnerable to price volatility and external shocks,” warned a Cutad, exhorting a thrust to added and structural diversification.

Exports of basic products – ranging from crude oil and gas to cocoa, copper and coffee – still represent around a third of world trade. But while the world’s global goods value developed from 25.6% from 2012 to 2014, at 2021, to 2023, exports of raw materials increased by only 15.5% over the same period, signaling slower growth in the dependent economies of resources.

Energy still leads, but agriculture and the mining gain ground

Despite a drop in its share, energy has remained the greatest contributor to the trade in raw materials, representing 44.5% of the total global exports of basic products between 2021 and 2023.

Meanwhile, agriculture and mining exports have become of importance. Agricultural products jumped 34% to almost 2.3 dollars of dollars during the period, food products representing almost 90% of this value. Mining products – such as minerals, metals and industrial minerals – have an average of 1.65 billion of dollars in annual export value, an increase of 33.4% in the last decade, and now contribute 23% of world trade in raw materials.

Nigeria is one of the delayers of trade in trade and digital change

The UNCTED world’s global trade update has further stressed the slowness of Nigeria in global trade growth. While developed countries experienced a 4% increase in quarterly imports, developing countries, including Nigeria, have experienced decreases.

The agency has warned that many savings dependent on basic products such as Nigeria continue to export more than 80% of their raw materials without added value. This weakens their position of negotiation in international markets and exposes them to a greater risk of price fluctuations and commercial disruptions.

To reduce vulnerability and promote sustainable growth, the report recommends a clear change towards transformation and manufacturing, in particular in Africa, where more than 90% of extractive and agricultural products are exported without transformation.

Stagnated oil revenues and economic stamps, the call to diversify has become stronger. The results of the UNCTAD underline the urgency of rethinking development models which depend on unrefined resources, for Africa, and in particular Nigeria.