MAN calls for packaging incentive, commercial insurance to drive exports

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG) has called for the introduction of an incentive that will be geared towards improving the packaging of made-in-Nigeria products. The umbrella institution of all the manufacturing exporters in the country has also called for an insurance scheme that will cover commercial risks inherent in the export business.

Tunde Oyelola, chairman, MANEG, said packaging incentive had become necessary because meeting the tastes of the European and American markets would require efficient packaging, which often could ramp up costs by between 20 percent and 30 percent, adding that this had the capacity to increase international market access for locally made products.

“Through the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigerian government can set up a packaging incentive to drive exports. Packaging is very expensive, and if you leave it for exporters alone, it can increase their costs and reduce competitiveness of their products in the international market,” he said.

On commercial insurance, though the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank has a product that covered political risks for exporters, Oyelola said, there needed to be a product that would equally cover a myriad of commercial risks faced by exporters.

“This insurance should even enable an exporter to move into the bank and get a loan or other facilities,” he said.

ODINAKA ANUDU