Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings have come down by more than $5.9 billion, from $10.35 billion recorded in 2014 to $4.39 billion in 2015.
Besides, credit to non-oil exports sector, which currently is in the decline, has only constituted a paltry 0.6 per cent of total domestic credit to the private sector in the past five years.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who made the disclosure at the non-oil exports stimulation conference organised by CBN and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) in Abuja, said the apex bank provided N300 billion as export stimulation intervention fund to exporters at about nine per cent.
The conference, with the theme “Strategies for Growing Nigeria’s Non-Oil Exports” attracted about 400 participants across all stakeholders in the non-oil sector of the Nigerian economy.
“The cumulative impact of these anomalies has plagued the development of the non-oil sector and has limited the sector’s contribution to foreign reserve accretion,” he said.
According to him, the volatility in the international oil market has necessitated the renewed focus on non-oil exports as panacea to the nation’s dwindling foreign reserves.
A rejuvenated non-oil export, he noted, will also “stimulate economic growth and development, address the challenges of unemployment and target economic rebirth through the diversification of the Nigerian economy.”
He pledged that CBN will continue to play a catalyst role in improving export and encourage the local production of jute bag through collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture.
For NEXIM, Nigeria’s non-oil exports contributes only about six per cent to nation’s revenue receipts, but lamented that the percentage exports to total credit in the economy is less than one per cent.
It also noted with displeasure that the nation’s export basket is quite narrow with only six commodities, but contributing over 70 per cent of total revenue receipts from non-oil sector.
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