The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has disclosed that Nigeria realised $2.97 billion from non-oil export, in 2013 a 15.9 per cent increase over $2.561 billion realised in 2012.
Disclosing this at a business meeting tagged “A New Dawn For Nigerian Export” organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), the Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, said Nigeria’s export is dominated by oil but that there has been steady growth in non-oil export to $2.97 billion in 2013, a 15.9 per cent increase over $2.56 in 2012.
He said that non-oil export potentials have not been fully exploited despite its endowment with natural resources including solid minerals and agriculture, adding that, some of the challenges are poor infrastructure, energy, finance, skills and capacity.
According to him, the non-oil export challenges in Nigeria are infrastructural deficiency, poor standardisation of products, high cost of production, falsification of documents, weak linkages to chain supply, unwholesome trade practices, and exports dominated by primary products, inability to meet export orders, restricted access to credit and trademark.
He said that for Nigerians to position effectively in the global market, Nigerian goods for export must meet competitiveness standards.
Awolowo noted that there is no better time than now to critically address issues that will enhance the development and promotion of Nigeria non-oil exports, stating that opportunities abound to stamp ‘Made in Nigeria Products’ on the global stage.
He said Nigerians need to harness their comparative advantage including population, natural resources and geo-diversity.
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