Export Development Fund needs N5bn to promote goods exports

Export Development Fund (EDF) scheme needs about N5 billion to promote exportation of goods.
Olusegun Awolowo, executive director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), disclosed this while addressing newsmen shortly after visiting some industries in Kano on Monday.
“The council has put a request of N5 billion to the Federal Government for this year, which will be used to provide free shipment incentives to exporters.
“The Export Expansion Grant was suspended three years ago and now the Federal Government wants to encourage exportation through EDF by giving exporters free incentives,” he said.
Awolowo said he was in Kano to see for himself the exporters’ level of commitment for exportation of goods, and assured exporters that the Federal Government was committed to boosting exportation of goods.
“Exporters are contributing heavily in the nation’s economy, hence the decision by the government to support them to ensure economic growth and development in the country.
Managing Director of Mamuda Industries, Hassan Mammoud, noted that export was the engine of a nation’s economy and urged government not joke with it, and assured the Federal Government of his company’s willingness to support any policy aimed at boosting exportation of goods.
He said the company’s finished goods at moment could compete favourably with any produced by other tanneries across the world, and disclosed that the company presently had no fewer than 5,000 workers in Kano state.
In addition, he said over five million pieces of skins were being processed in the company, particularly during Eid-el-Fitr and Eid-el-Kabir periods.