For every $1 Nigeria earned from exporting digital services between 2005 and 2024, it spent almost $10 on imports

  • Nigeria exported $10.81 billion in digital services between 2005 and 2024.
  • Imports during the same period reached $105.34 billion.
  • The result was a trade deficit of $94.53 billion over 20 years.
  • Exports rose from just $40 million in 2005 to $1.55 billion in 2024.
  • Imports were almost ten times larger than exports, showing a persistent imbalance.

Nigeria is heavily dependent on foreign digital services and has not yet built a strong export base to compete in the global digital economy.From 2005 to 2024, Nigeria exported $10.81 billion in digital services but imported $105.34 billion, resulting in a massive trade deficit of $94.53 billion. Exports grew gradually from $40 million in 2005 to $1.55 billion in 2024, yet imports consistently outweighed them, peaking at $12.36 billion in 2019.

The widening gap reflects Nigeria's limited ability to capture value from the global digital economy.

Source:

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Period:

1970-2023
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Financial services dominated Nigeria’s $1.5bn digital services exports in 2024
  • Financial services dominate Nigeria’s digitally delivered exports, contributing $1.15bn (over 74%).
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  • Computer, information, and IP services registered almost no exports, highlighting untapped digital potential.
  • Nigeria’s digital exports remain highly concentrated in finance, leaving other sub-sectors underdeveloped.

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  • Nigeria recorded a 12.1% decline in exports to the US, falling to $2.8 billion.
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US trade deficit with South Africa nearly doubled to $6.3 billion in H1 2025
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  • US imports from Africa jumped 24% to $23.4 billion in H1 2025 despite tariffs.
  • Egypt led gains, doubling its surplus with the US to $2.73 billion.
  • Nigeria swung into a $576 million surplus, reversing last year’s deficit.
  • South Africa’s deficit with the US nearly doubled to $6.32 billion, dragging the overall balance.

46 African countries get more than 60% of their export earnings from raw goods, with South Sudan leading with 99.5%
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  • South Sudan leads the list with 99.5%.
  • Nigeria’s commodity export dependence is 96.3%, dominated by energy (89.7%), followed by agriculture (4.0%) and mining (2.6%).
  • Africa alone accounts for nearly 47% of all commodity dependent countries globally.

Only 8 African countries get less than 60% of their export earnings from raw goods, with Tunisia leading at 21.5%
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  • Algeria and Morocco are the least dependent, pointing to stronger industrial and trade sectors.
  • Lower dependence means greater economic stability, while high reliance exposes countries to volatile global commodity markets.

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