The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has promised to address overlapping agency duties that increase costs for exporters.
The Minister for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, made this commitment during a ministerial consultation on Tuesday with the top 100 exporters in Lagos, where stakeholders from various sectors gathered to address challenges facing the export industry.
She noted the longstanding bureaucratic inefficiencies, including conflicts among agencies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, which burden manufacturers, stating “The challenges, the silos, the miscommunication, and overlapping duties that make things costlier for the private sector are nothing new to me.
“To not address these issues is to shoot ourselves in the foot and leave value on the table. Mr President (Bola Tinubu) has given me marching orders, and together with my colleagues, we will deliver this for the Nigerian economy.”
The minister also highlighted the government’s focus on supporting both goods and services exports, particularly in digital trade, which she described as a “low-hanging fruit” for Nigerian youth.
“We’re also supporting Nigerian exporters of services, which is one of the lowest hanging fruits for allowing Nigerian youth to earn foreign exchange while living in Nigeria by exporting their services.
“They’re talented in areas of digital trade. Nigeria is going to be a leading, dominating force in that regard,” Oduwole asserted.
She also urged stakeholders to remain committed, stating, “The reforms may be tough, but we’re already turning the corner. Let’s all continue to work together to make this economy thrive.”
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nonye Ayeni, addressed exporters’ submissions, emphasising efforts to simplify export processes.
Ayeni revealed that the NEPC had secured approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to include the CFA Franc in accepted export proceeds.
However, she lamented that exporters currently need to fill out up to 23 documents to open a Non-Oil Export Support Programme account, but vowed to slash the figure with the minister of industry’s backing.
“We’re working with stakeholders, and with the Honourable Minister’s support, we’ll see significant changes soon,” Ayeni assured.
On his part, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Abba Bello, identified financing as a critical barrier to export growth.
Bello stressed the need for commercial banks to become more involved in funding non-oil exports, noting “Many of the challenges exporters face, from infrastructure to logistics, revolve around financing.”
The NEXIM boss called for a shift from exporting raw materials to processed goods, which would significantly increase Nigeria’s export earnings.
“In a $200 billion global market, Nigeria earns less than $2 billion. We must expand our value chain and integrate forward to add value to our exports,” he urged.
Exporters at the event proposed immediate actions to increase non-oil export revenues tenfold. In a workshop session, moderated by Eyitope Oyeneyin of Augmentum Advisory, the stakeholders identified the Export Expansion Grant, tax exemptions, and NEPC interventions as the most impactful government initiatives.
Oyeneyin revealed: “The top three government interventions that have been most helpful to exporters, included Export Expansion Grant (44%), Tax Exemption for Importers (22%) and NEPC (17%), followed by the RT200 which stands for Race to $200bn in FX Repatriation (8%) and dedicated port terminals for exporters (4%).”
Further, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group Chairman Odiri Erewa-Meggison called for improved energy supply for manufacturers and streamlining the repatriation of export proceeds.
“We also need foreign missions to be part of the export value chain for better information dissemination,” Erewa-Meggison submitted.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Dele Oye, called for policies that encourage farmers to increase production to ensure exporters have adequate supplies.