The Federal Executive Council has approved the sum of N375bn export expansion grant (EEG) to boost non-oil export.
Ezra Yakusak, executive director/CEO, of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), who disclosed this during the second edition of the Export4Survival walk at the weekend in Abuja, said about 285 exporters who applied for the EEG will benefit from the fund.
According to Yakusak, the approval also means that the backlog from 2006 till date has been cleared and “exporters should expect the N375 billion approved by FEC. Right now, it would be taken to the national assembly for assent.”
In addition to the grant, the executive director informed that the NEPC will introduce some initiatives to also encourage non-oil export. He informed that the commission is about to set up a project called ‘exporters handholding’ aimed at conducting physical training for new non-oil exporters, who newly registered with no knowledge about export.
“We are going to match-make them with exporters to train them on the physical aspect of non-oil export; the rudiments, the procedures, to ensure that they export,” he added.
Yakusak further informed that the Council will be implementing recommendations from the just concluded national conference on non-oil export . He said, “The takeaways from that two days conference is that we appreciated the problem facing non-oil export more and they are; supply side constraint, issue of packaging, issue of logistics and market access. From that conference, we intend to implement every point of the communique that was made during the conference. The challenges have been identified and there are so many strategies that are being put in place to curb them.”
He regretted that some exporters still do not comply with export rules , and said the council will carry out a sensitization campaign to talk to them, persuade them, and tell them the need and advantage of complying with such export rules.
Yakusak, however noted that the Export4Survival walk is achieving its objectives of sensitization, stating that the council is seeing an increase in registration of non-oil exporters.
Also speaking, Suleiman Audu, director for commodities and export department, federal ministry of industry, trade and investment (FMITI) informed that the federal government is set to inaugurate committee to address the problem of rejects of Nigerian products in the international market.
“The minister is about to inaugurate a committee on export rejects of Nigerian products, and the issue is basically relating to standard, packaging , certification, and all. So the government is already working towards that and thereafter we will come up with a strategy to overcome the challenge,” he said.
The director commended the Export4Survival walk, describing it as a timely intervention . “It has achieved many objectives; awareness raising, promoting diversification, and taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AFCFTA).
