The Executive Director/Chief Executive,
Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Olusegun Awolowo on
Thursday lamented the inability of the Nigerian Maritime Administration
and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
to release the 10 percent levies on freights
collection to NEPC as stipulated by law.
He said the delay constituted a major handicap to providing export incentives to proposed beneficiaries.
He also disclosed that the country’s oil export earnings had dropped by 40 percent, largely due to the country’s inability to improve on the quality and standard of it primary export products .
He also disclosed that the country’s oil export earnings had dropped by 40 percent, largely due to the country’s inability to improve on the quality and standard of it primary export products .
He said most of the country’s export
products were currently in non-processed level, making it difficult to
generate the much needed foreign exchange as the country looks to
diversify its revenue base from oil.
Speaking at the ongoing 22nd seminar of
Finance Correspondents and Business Editors (FICAN) in Abakaliki, Ebonyi
State, further said the inability of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to release 10 percent levies
on freights collections to NEPC as stipulated by law, was one of its
major handicaps to providing export incentives to proposed
beneficiaries.
According to him, a total of about N300 million is currently being owed the council by NIMASA.
Nevertheless, he said the high level of non-processed export items constituted an impediment to improvement in earnings and volume of its non-oil exports.
Nevertheless, he said the high level of non-processed export items constituted an impediment to improvement in earnings and volume of its non-oil exports.
Represented at the seminar by a Director
in NEPC, Barr. George Enyiekpon, the NEPC boss said the country’s
non-oil export products have remained at non-processed levels and this
has had limitations on the standards, quality and accruals from the
sector.
In his paper delivery titled:”Towards
Efficient Institutional Arrangements for Non-oil Export Finance in
Nigeria”, Awolowo said the non-oil sector holds enormous foreign
exchange potentials for the country but had not been fully exploited
despite being endowed with solid minerals and agriculture.
He blamed the decline in non-oil export
earnings on limited local content value addition, products mostly
exported in the primary forms and challenges associated with poor
infrastructure, power, standards, finance, skills and capacity.
He said with the fall in crude oil price
by about 50 percent, the NEPC believed now is the time for Nigeria to
intensify efforts at diversifying the economy and maximize the
potentials inherent in non-oil sector export.
Awolowo said since inception in 1976, the
Nigerian Export Promotion Council with the core mandate to develop,
promote, assist and play a leading role in the creation of export
incentives, has lived up that expectations by positioning the Nigerian
export market as the growth opportunity of choice for private sector
earnings and sustainable economic development.
James Emejo and Nume Ekeghe in Abakaliki
No comments:
Post a Comment