By Yinka Kolawole

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), an economic and business advocacy think tank, have commended the Race-To-US$200billion in FX Repatriation (RT200 FX) initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), noting, however, that critical export infrastructure and right policies are required to achieve desired results.

Dr. Chinyere Almona, Director-General, LCCI, stated: “The plan by CBN to repatriate the sum of $200 billion from non-oil export in the next three to five years is commendable against the background of having more diversified revenue sources in the economy.

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“The Race to $200 billion in FX Repatriation (RT200 FX) programme requires the right policies, critical export infrastructure, international trade diplomacy, and adequate funding to achieve the desired results within the stipulated period.”

She also cautioned the apex bank on its continuous intervention in the various sectors of the economy.

“Currently, there are many credit facilities extended to farmers and manufacturers that may suffer non-repayment due to the high cost of production. We urge caution in the way the CBN intervenes in various sectors of the economy as this indicates an element of a dysfunctional economic system.

“Beyond the loans to support value addition to our exports, there is an urgent need to improve the export infrastructure at our ports, create more digital platforms to reduce the human interface for exports and formulate the right policies. To this end, we urge the government to accelerate the plan to build domestic export warehouses by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). The concern of the Chamber is that without infrastructure, the grants may end up as lost ventures,” Almona added.

Also commenting, Dr Muda Yusuf, CEO, CPPE, said that the RT200 programme is commendable as it would go a long way in affecting the economy tremendously if properly managed.

He however highlighted the success factors that should be considered for the initiative to succeed.

His words: “There is a need to put certain things in place such as fixing structural constraints impeding non-oil exports, reviewing the pricing regime in the I&E window, giving exporters access to export proceeds, expanding the scope of forex supply strategies and allowing forex-generating MDAs to sell at the I&E window.

“Structural variables are not within the purview of the CBN or the Bankers Committee. The fiscal authorities have much bigger roles to play in fixing the structural constraints which have been impeding non-oil exports productivity and competitiveness for decades.”