Nigeria’s non-oil exports hit $3bn

Nigeria’s non-oil exports in 2013 reached $2.97 billion by the end of 2013, from $2.56 billion recorded in 2012, representing 16 percent increase. In addition, non-oil export to members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reported a remarkable improvement of 20 percent, with the total value of $375.339 million, as against $312.478 million recorded in 2012. This is also a huge improvement from $276.527 million reported in 2011, information from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has shown.

“Cocoa and cocoa preparations have continued to dominate the top 10 products exported from Nigeria to different parts of the world,’’ said the report, released to BusinessDay last Friday, during the interactive session between the NEPC and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group (MANEG).

NEPC was created to enhance the country’s exports, especially the non-oil category. According to the body, cocoa topped the exports chart in 2013, while leather, rubber, among others, trailed along within the period under review.

“In 2013, for instance, a total value of $758,640,303 of cocoa and cocoa preparations were exported, translating to 36 percent of world export. This was followed by sheep, goat skin and leather, sesame seeds, aluminium, rubber, tobacco products, cotton yarn, and woven fabrics,’’ the report further said.

Others included copper, cashew nuts and edible nuts, prawn, shrimps, fish and crustaceans, according to NEPC. The council stressed that the country was currently exporting tobacco products, plastics and rubber foot wears, noodles and biscuits, poly bags, milk products, iron and steel, insecticides, beverages, tomato paste and fruit juice to African countries like Ghana, Niger, Togo, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, among others.

The report showed that under Olusegun Awolowo, CEO, NEPC, the Netherlands became the number one importer of Nigeria’s non-oil exports, with a total value of $583.334 million in 2013. The twist is, however, that the United States of America, which used to be the number one importer of Nigerian products, is today at the bottom of the table, with the total export value of $82.731.

“This is why the NEPC is making frantic efforts to effectively utilise the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) window to increase the non-oil exports to the United States,’’ according to the NEPC.

To further create an atmosphere to move the country away from oil dependence, the NEPC said it was considering introducing pre-shipment incentives to enhance export capacity of small- and medium- scale enterprises (SMEs), adding that efforts were being intensified to review the current Export Expansion Grant (EEG) meant to assist manufacturers.

“As part of its efforts to effectively utilise the opportunity provided by the US AGOA incentives to sub-Saharan African countries, the CEO, Olusegun Awolowo, has met with the desk officer in charge of AGOA in the US to fashion out ways to ease the penetration of eligible AGOA products from Nigeria into the US,’’ NEPC further stated.

Earlier, Tunde Oyelola, chairman, MAN EG, had said since 2005, the EEG scheme had been suspended eight times, adding that the situation had created uncertainty among manufacturing exporters. According to him, non-acceptance of Negotiable Deposit Credit Certificates (NDCCs), which were instruments used in the EEG scheme, meant manufacturing exporters were currently incurring cost for duties which NDCC was meant to cover.

ODINAKA ANUDU