The Nigerian government has officially prohibited the importation of seventeen categories of goods, a move detailed in a circular issued by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, on April 1, 2026. This directive, part of the nation’s 2026 fiscal strategies and tariff adjustments impacting 127 items, primarily targets products originating from non-ECOWAS nations.
Among the newly restricted items are bagged cement, frozen poultry, sugar-sweetened beverages, detergents, and soaps.
The full list of prohibited imports includes:
* Live or deceased birds, encompassing frozen poultry.
* Pork and beef, along with specific cuts such as tongues, livers, and shoulders of bovine animals.
* Bird eggs, with exceptions for hatching eggs intended for breeding and research purposes.
* Refined vegetable oils (excluding linseed, castor, and olive oil, as well as hydrogenated fats) and crude vegetable oil.
* Cane or beet sugar, and pure sucrose in solid form, whether or not it contains added flavoring or coloring.
* Cocoa derivatives, including butter, powder, cakes, fat, and oil.
* Tomatoes, whether whole, in pieces, as paste, or as concentrates.
* Sweetened or flavored water, mineral water, and other non-alcoholic beverages.
* Bagged cement.
* Medicaments (pharmaceutical drugs).
* Pharmaceutical waste.
* NPK mineral or chemical fertilizers.
* Soaps and detergents.
* Corrugated paper, cartons, boxes, and cases.
* Glass bottles with a capacity exceeding 150 ml.
* Flat-rolled iron or steel products, measuring 600mm or wider, whether clad or coated, and in corrugated form.
