Non-Oil Exports Earned $2.6 Billion In First Quarter Of 2022, Says NEPC

Executive Director/Chief Executive, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr Ezra Yakusak stated on Tuesday that total non-oil exports were about $2.60 billion in the first half of the year (January - June 2022), representing an increase of 62.37 per cent compared to about $1.60 billion and $981.44 million recorded in the first halves of 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Yakusak said this at the presentation of the First Half Year Progress Report 2022 in Abuja.

Despite the worldwide economic slowdown that most firms experienced in 2021, he claimed that the nation's non-oil export sector had tremendous growth, exporting 4.15 million metric tonnes of goods then.

Yakusak added that the pre-shipment inspection data demonstrated that non-oil export performance for the first half of the year was the best since 2018.

The NEPC chief executive said that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N375 billion to pay the backlog of claims for 285 recipients under the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) Scheme.

This was done during the presentation of the first half-year progress report.

He reaffirmed the council's dedication to advancing President Muhammadu Buhari's administration's diversification policy.

“I am optimistic that our vision to make the world a market for Nigerian non-oil export is not just lip service but a commitment to the people.

"This commitment is borne out of the desire to build a prosperous future for our people through diversification of the Nigerian economy by increasing the basket of exportable products from Nigeria.”

He stressed that the nation's ability to increase non-oil exports will be crucial to its existence and urged Nigerians to support the council's "Export4Survival" campaign in order to create a robust economy based on the industry.

The Export4Survival campaign, which the council introduced in February, is a tactical effort to raise public knowledge of opportunities in the industry and to emphasise the advantages of exporting Nigerian goods and services to the overall growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Yakusak argued that the difficulties the local currency, the Naira, is currently suffering could be easily overcome by boosting non-oil exports in order to generate foreign money and increase the external reserves.

He claimed that encouraging value addition to raw material exports was one of his administration's top priorities for generating foreign exchange.

The head of NEPC noted that various Nigerian goods were exported to 112 nations during the period under review.

Of the top 15 exports, urea/fertilizer accounted for 32.49 per cent of all exports, followed by cocoa beans, sesame seeds, and aluminium ingots at 12.65 per cent, 7 per cent, and 5.07 per cent, respectively.

During the half-year, 572 companies participated in exporting goods from Nigeria, he added.

Yakusak claimed that during the first half of 2022, the council registered 2,000 firms using its completely automated online registration platform, facilitating the convenience of conducting business and smooth documentation processes.

“I am also elated to inform you that processing time for applications is now 24 hours while 17.3 per cent of applicants were recorded to be women-owned businesses (WOB).

“The South-west recorded the highest figure of exporters’ registration of 851, while the North-central came second with 417 registered exporters.”

In order to stop the rejection of Nigerian products on the global market, he continued, NEPC was actively collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment and other pertinent government agencies.

Yakusak said that NEPC had finalised plans to travel to the United Kingdom for an interagency fact-finding mission in order to identify the precise reasons why imported goods from Nigeria were being turned away.

“This mission is to provide Nigerian export regulatory/facilitating agencies the opportunity of observing the processes of agricultural commodities import procedures and to also interact with port health and food import regulatory agencies at the border control points in the UK.”