By Victoria Ojeme

The federal government Wednesday said that the country’s non-oil sector recorded some growth as it exported products worth $2.593 billion in the first half of 2022.

Data from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) show that this represents a 62.37 per cent increase from the $1.59 billion was exported within the same period in 2021.

Executive Director of NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak stated this at the presentation of the First Half Year Progress Report 2022 in Abuja.

He said the country’s non-oil export sector recorded a significant growth, as about 4.15 million metric tons of products were exported during the period, in spite of the global economic recession that affected most businesses in 2021.

Yakusak also said the pre-shipment inspection data showed that half-year non-oil export performance was the highest since 2018.

Speaking at the presentation of the first half-year progress report, the NEPC chief executive disclosed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N375 billion to settle the backlog of claims for 285 beneficiaries under the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) Scheme.

He reiterated the council’s commitment to driving the diversification programme of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Yakusak said, “I am optimistic that our vision to make the world a market for Nigerian non-oil exports is not just lip service but a commitment to the people. This commitment is borne out of the desire to build a prosperous future for our people through diversification of the Nigerian economy by increasing the basket of exportable products from Nigeria.”

He insisted that the country’s survival largely depended on its ability to boost non-oil exports, and enjoined Nigerians to embrace the council’s “Export4Survival” initiative in order to build a virile economy driven by the sector.

The Export4Survival campaign, which was unveiled by the council in February, is a strategic initiative to increase awareness of opportunities in the sector and to highlight the benefits of exporting Nigerian goods and services to the overall growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Yakusak maintained that the current challenges facing the local currency, Naira, could be simply resolved by strengthening non-oil exports in order to earn foreign exchange to beef up the external reserves.

He said one of the key priorities of his administration was to encourage value addition to raw material exports to be able to earn foreign exchange.

The NEPC boss added that during the period under review, different Nigerian products were exported to 112 countries, adding that of the 15 top exported products, urea/fertiliser recorded 32.49 per cent of total exports while cocoa beans, sesame seed, and aluminum ingots contributed 12.65 per cent, 7 per cent and 5.07 per cent, respectively, within the same period.

He also said 572 companies participated in exporting Nigerian products during the half-year.

Yakusak said to facilitate the ease of doing business and seamless documentation processes, the council, during the first half of 2022, registered 2,000 companies under its fully automated online registration platform.

He said, “I am also elated to inform you that processing time for applications is now 24 hours while 17.3 per cent of applicants were recorded to be women-owned businesses (WOB).

“The South-west recorded the highest figure of exporters’ registration of 851, while the North-central came second with 417 registered exporters.”

He added that NEPC was currently working with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and other relevant agencies of government to end the rejection of Nigeria’s products in the international market.

Yakusak said NEPC had concluded arrangements to embark on an inter-agency working/fact-finding visit to the United Kingdom to ascertain specific causes for the rejection of imported commodities from Nigeria.

He said, “This mission is to provide Nigerian export regulatory/facilitating agencies the opportunity of observing the processes of agricultural commodities import procedures and to also interact with port health and food import regulatory agencies at the border control points in the UK.”

“We have also commenced training and re-training of our personnel. This is intended to close identified skill gaps and improve capabilities/knowledge of employees for optimum output. This is germane considering our current efforts/ campaign for massive investment in non-oil export.

“I am optimistic that our vision to make the world a marketplace for Nigerian Non-Oil export is not just lip service but a commitment to the people of Nigeria. This commitment is borne out of the desire to build a prosperous future for our people through diversification of the Nigerian economy by increasing the basket of exportable products from Nigeria,” he added.