Nigeria Risks Global Market Ban Over Deforestation—VP Shettima Sounds Alarm

Vice President Kashim Shettima has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s rapidly vanishing forests, warning that the country faces a looming economic catastrophe if urgent action is not taken. Speaking on Monday at the Nigeria Forest Economy Summit 2025 held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Shettima—represented by Deputy Chief of Staff Ibrahim Hadejia—underscored the severe consequences of deforestation, calling it both an environmental and financial emergency.

According to him, Nigeria has lost over 90% of its original forest cover, with an additional 400,000 hectares disappearing annually. The summit, themed “Sustainability of Nigeria’s Forests: Unlocking the $2bn Potential for Economic and Financial Inclusion,” focused on revitalizing the nation’s forest resources.

Shettima emphasized that neglecting forest ecosystems directly impoverishes the country, noting that forests are rich in biodiversity, timber, medicinal plants, and other economic assets essential for agriculture, health, climate resilience, and trade. Drawing global parallels, he cited Vietnam’s $15 billion forest export earnings, Brazil’s Amazon contributing 15% to its GDP, and Ethiopia’s creation of 350,000 jobs through reforestation. Nigeria, he said, must not only emulate these achievements but lead the continent in forest-based industrialization.

He also issued a warning regarding new European Union import regulations that will soon ban goods sourced from land deforested within the past five years. If Nigeria fails to embrace sustainable forestry practices now, it could be shut out of crucial international markets.

Beyond conservation, Shettima pushed for the integration of financial services into forest-based economies. He stressed that such innovation could provide credit, insurance, and savings access to 30 million Nigerians—particularly women and girls—excluded from the formal banking system. He proposed developing eco-industrial parks for processing bamboo, shea butter, medicinal plants, and carbon credit validation.

Echoing the Vice President’s call, Dr. Sadiq Sani, Founder and CEO of Netzence Sustainability Ltd., announced his firm’s commitment to unlocking more than $2 billion in value from Nigeria’s forestry sector through technology. He revealed that the company’s CloseCarbon platform is designed to accurately track greenhouse gas emissions and convert that data into carbon credits.

Sani noted that Netzence is already collaborating with the Presidency and key ministries, including Environment and Livestock Development, to model forest carbon dynamics and monetize credit opportunities. “We need both government and broad stakeholder participation to succeed,” he emphasized.

Nurudeen Zauro, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion and Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Financial Inclusion (PRICIFI), said the initiative aims to uncover underutilized economic assets across Nigeria. “That’s why we’ve brought together agencies, communities, and partners—to expose the silent economic potential of our forests,” he said.

George Kelly, Executive Secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency, pointed out that Nigeria controls more than 10.6 million hectares of forest land. With the right policies, he claimed, the sector could yield as much as $5–10 billion annually—enough to finance state budgets and alleviate rural poverty.

Danny Sokari, Chairman of Wen Synergies Nigeria Ltd. and Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, added that awareness about forest potential remains alarmingly low. “We organized this summit to raise public consciousness and drive coordinated action,” he said, urging all stakeholders to rethink and reinvigorate Nigeria’s green agenda.