Nigerian exporters are hard hit by the lingering coronavirus pandemic and cannot move their products to the international market owing to growing border restrictions by countries.
More than 180 countries have been affected by the pandemic and many of them are locked down to contain the spread of the virus which has killed tens of thousands of people across the world.
Zacheaus Egbewusi, chief executive officer, Agri-Commodities Inspection Limited, said in a telephone interview that since the outbreak of the pandemic, the export market has experienced declines in various forms as business partners are no longer responding, forcing some of them to stop supplies.
“When the virus broke out, some of us were not affected because it was mainly in China. So, it was those who had business partners there that suffered it. However, since the widespread, everyone is now being affected as all the countries are trying to curb the spread and many of us have had to stop supply,” Egbewusi added.
The outbreak of the pandemic grew from a global health crisis to a global economic, social and political crisis and has threatened to stifle means of achieving growth and development worldwide. As an economic impact, the virus has restricted business operations.
In a webinar themed ‘Managing the Shocks and Disruptions of COVID-19’ hosted by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) last Thursday via Zoom,’ Ayo Teriba, CEO, Economic Associates, said that the outbreak of the virus had depressed global export and also shut down production activities hurting commercial activities in various forms.
Asides the outbreak of the coronavirus, Nigerian exporters have been at the receiving end due to the lack of infrastructure and their inability to meet up with the import requirement of some countries. This has limited their revenues and profits, with some incurring losses.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, exporters had been battling the closure of Nigeria-Benin border, which made export to West Africa almost impossible.
The Federal Government had considered re-opening the land border before the coronavirus outbreak, one source told BusinessDay.
Gbemi Faminu
