Throughout The 2020 Pandemic, Nigeria Imports Indonesian Herbal Products Rp18.8 Billion

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) claims that Indonesian herbal products and herbal supplements are increasingly in demand by the people of Nigeria. This is shown by the increase in demand since the beginning of the pandemic last year.

Head of Education and Export Training at the Ministry of Trade, Heriyono Hadi Prasetyo, said Nigeria was the largest importer of herbal medicine in the West African Region with a value of US$1.3 million or equivalent to Rp18.87 billion in 2020.

"Hopefully this year and the year to come, herbal exports to Nigeria will increase," he said as quoted from the official website, Sunday, July 25.

According to Heriyono, the most ordered Indonesian herbal products were three Nigerian importers from Lagos, Kano, and Enugu.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian national producers supplying supplies to the West African country include PT Petra Anugrah Tama, PT Lestari Jaya Bangsa, PT Herbacore, PT Gujati 59 Utama, Sinyo Babel, PT Razie Aceh, and PT Mustika Ratu.

To note, most of the business actors are export-oriented SMEs assisted by the Ministry of Trade and members of GP Jamu.

“Indonesian herbs and herbal supplements are products that are highly sought after by the Nigerian people, especially in the northern states. We hope that in the future there will be more SMEs for herbal products and herbal supplements from the country that can participate in distributing products to other African regions," he said.

For information, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) processed by the Ministry of Trade, for the category of herbs and herbal supplements, Indonesia is the 18th exporter of herbal medicine in the world.

The total export value of Indonesian herbal medicine to the world in 2020 reached 41.5 million US dollars. This number increased by 10.96 percent compared to the 2019 period.

The same thing also happened to Indonesia's exports of medical devices which continued to record growth of 7.8 percent per year during the last few periods (2016–2020).

Meanwhile, the total trade between Indonesia and Nigeria for the January-April 2021 period reached 776.49 million US dollars.

In that period, Indonesia's exports to Nigeria were recorded at US$ 140.68 million. Meanwhile, Indonesia's imports from Nigeria were recorded at US$635.81 million, which was dominated by petroleum procurement.