Niger bans all peanut exports to build local oil processing
Customs officers and security forces may seize any peanuts caught leaving the country, and the state keeps them.
Niger's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Abdoulaye Seydou, announced at a press briefing on Friday 13 November 2026 that peanut exports are banned across the whole country under decree 05-18, dated 11 November 2026. The aim, he said, is to strengthen the processing and consumption of local peanut products, especially oil.
The minister said Niger imports cooking oil from distant countries even though it has the raw material to produce enough good-quality oil from peanuts at home. The ban adds to existing bans on exports of millet, polished rice, paddy and sorghum. Exceptional export permits may be granted to countries of the AES confederation under a set procedure.
Ministry of Commerce inspectors, customs agents and the defence and security forces are authorised to enforce the ban. Any peanuts found in an attempted export will be seized systematically and handed to the state through the usual judicial procedure.
Why it mattersPeanut farmers and oil processors now have no legal export outlet, so any harvest surplus must be sold inside Niger.