Overview 

Generally, all food categories are available, but variety choices can be limited, and food is manufactured to local taste, particularly popular ready-to-eat foods such as noodles and pasta. International brands are not well represented, locally sourced cereals, meat, sugar and poultry dominate supply.  

There are no large manufacturing/production/importing wholesalers that supply food for procurement at a national level. There are many relatively small-scale traders who will ’aggregate’ stock and redistribute it to downstream, smaller retailers (sometimes referred to as business to business (B2B) trade). They generally only trade in a few basic food commodities and there is often no strong long-term trading relationship formed as cash on the spot is preferred.  

Kano, the second largest city in Nigeria and the state capital of Kano State in North West Nigeria, is the major source of food redistribution to Northern Nigeria where the larger retailers are not widely represented. Basic locally produced commodities such as salt, sorghum, millet, maize, beans and rice are readily available.  

Dawano market in Kano is the epicentre of the sourcing of cereals and pulses. Vegetable oil is imported in bulk and repackaged by manufacturers and distributers. Production is mainly limited by raw material availability. Salt is mainly produced by Dangote who has a chain of distributors. Rice production is carried by rice associated farmers. Due to high price of fertilizers the price of rice is very high and discourages it to be considered for purchase. 

Quality is another challenging aspect to be considered, as the majority of vendors do not have adequate infrastructures to assure production of commodities with the standard.

Main Growing Areas: Below is the map of main Nigeria crops. As can be seen in the map, sorghum, millet, maize and beans are produced mainly in the northern belt. Maize and beans are produced mainly in Niger, Kaduna and Plateau states. Borno State which produces a lot of sorghum and millet is currently affected by insurgency. 

Harvest/Crop Calendar: Below is the calendar for Northern Nigeria crops. As can be seen in the chart below, harvests of the sorghum, millet, maize, and beans happen between October and January, with an off-season between April and June, and then lean season between July and September.  

USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET): http://fews.net/west-africa/nigeria

For more information on food supplier contact details, please see the following link: 4.10 Nigeria Supplier Contact List

Retail Sector 

Global retail chains are generally not present, and the market is dominated by small and medium owner operated businesses. Larger, established retailers have been present for some time. The retail sector does not normally offer credit, however, they may do so to recognised organisations by prior arrangement.   

Wholesale Market Overview 

As previously discussed, there is an absence of large food wholesalers in the Nigerian market. One of the few and Nigeria’s largest producer is Dangote, however even this company often does not always have a traditional wholesaler ‘direct to end of supply chain retailer’ relationship. In many cases there will be other intermediaries that will purchase and then resell to other, smaller retailers.  

Wholesale – Dangote 

Dangote Group is one of Nigeria’s most diversified business conglomerates with annual turnover in excess of $3 billion. 

**For non-FOOD products please see section 3.5.2 Additional Suppliers, and for FUEL/PETROLEUM products please see section 3.1 Fuel. 

Disclaimer: Inclusion of company information in the LCA does not imply any business relationship between the supplier and WFP / Logistics Cluster, and is used solely as a determinant of services, and capacities.  

Please note: WFP / Logistics Cluster maintain complete impartiality and are not in a position to endorse, comment on any company's suitability as a reputable service provider.