Lagos – Nigeria has emerged as Eswatini’s fifth-largest export market, reflecting a growing commercial link between the two countries beyond the Kingdom’s traditional Southern African Customs Union (SACU) partners.
The latest Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) Integrated Annual Report for 2024/25 shows exports to Nigeria reached about E1.5 billion ($85.7 million) in the past financial year, placing it behind South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe among Eswatini’s top export destinations.
The trade relationship is driven largely by high-value chemical and manufacturing products. Key exports include scented mixtures valued at more than E880 million ($48.2 million), supplying Nigeria’s cosmetics and household manufacturing sectors. Industrial binders for foundries contributed nearly E520 million ($28.3 million), while oxygen heterocyclic chemical compounds remain a steady niche export.
ERS Commissioner General Brightwell Nkambule said regional and continental trade agreements, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), are central to the revenue authority’s strategy. “Our strategy of being ‘digitalised and data-driven’ is not just for domestic efficiency; it is to facilitate trade across borders with partners like Nigeria more seamlessly,” Nkambule said.
Automation through the ASYCUDA World system has reduced the cost of revenue collection to 3.34 cents per lilangeni and simplified documentation for long-haul exports to Abuja and Lagos.
Trade is reciprocal, with Nigeria exporting gold and cocoa beans to Eswatini. Gold imports alone reached more than E150 million ($8.67 million) during the reporting period.
The diversification into non-traditional markets such as Nigeria provides a buffer for Eswatini’s economy, which recorded GDP growth of 3.6% last year while ERS exceeded its revenue target, collecting E14.612 billion.
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