The Nation Newspaper

Tag: exports

  • Agro exports need revamp to regain shine

    Amid increasing fears about food safety challenge affecting exports, the National Public Relations Officer of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Sotonye has called on the government to cut the contamination rate of agro export produce.

    This follows reports that international inspectors found samples in commodities which are high pesticide residues.

    According to him, the government needs to work with farmers’ organisations to find out where these products came from and take measures to tackle the situation.

    He said government agencies need to test samples of domestic and imported plant protection chemicals to ensure they meet safety standards.

    He urged the government to increase inspections and quarantines and test more samples of fruit and vegetables for the export market.

    Anga said improving the nation’s chances at the export markets will create an opportunity for a big revamp to the sector which is losing shine.

    He said exports of agro products are among the nation’s leading cash earners, but that the situation  could turn upside down bringing the sector’s export value if nothing is done to address the issue of contamination.

    Some agro produce exporters, he noted, would make more money, but added that many export products have failed to meet the quality and hygiene standards of their foreign markets.

    With European Union (EU) warning that many agricultural and food products  from the country violate food hygiene and safety standards, he urged operators to keep an eye on the contaminations in their exports.

    He said exporters would hurt themselves if they continued to do business in the old way, with old manners. He urged relevant agencies to implement measures to ensure food safety and hygiene, tracing the origin of foods of all kinds and focusing on essential farm produce.

    He urged that surveillance be tightened during production. He also urged that food production businesses be encouraged to meet international standards on food safety and hygiene such as ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points).

    He wants more to extend capacity on technical and phytosanitary barriers to international trade. He said some producers have encountered difficulties in accessing the European Union (EU) market.

    According to him, the government should redirect its strategies to boost international trade to include capacity building for producers, such as agronomists and farmers doing organic farming and addressing practices that hinder demand for indigeneous produce.

    Recently, stakeholders in the  industry called for the establishment of a Cashew Board, to boost foreign exchange earnings  and generate more jobs.

    They also appealed to the Federal Government to assist cashew farmers and processors through the provision of a special fund, to boost cashew production.  NCAN President, Mr Tola Fasheru, decried the high cost of processing a ton of cashew. He said it costs $500 to process one ton of cashew, while it costs about $250 in India and $217 in Vietnam.

    He said for the industry to compete favourably with others, the government should set up a special fund for the industry.

    According to him, the sustainability and competitiveness of the sector may be a mirage if the government did not assist cashew farmers and processors.

  • Lack of infrastructure in ports hampers agro exports

    Lack of infrastructural facilities in ports is negatively affecting agro exports as the ports are struggling to cope with commodity traffic.

    National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr Tola Faseru said ports have serious capacity problems, adding that this has lead to slow processing times. In most ports, he said lack of infrastructure hampers agro exports most as it cause delay in movements of produce in the major ports.

    Though the concessionaires have initiated the modernisation of facilities, most of the improvements, he observed, however, were designed to boost agro exports.

    This, he maintained, made it difficult for agro exporters to ship cargoes and experience waiting period to load the commodities.

    He urged the government to made capacity building a major concern along with improving the rail and road connectivity to minor ports, stressed the need to reposition the ports as a gateway for trade.

    According to him, the potential for agro export growth is enormous, but observed however that the nation’s share in the global market for agricultural products is still severely hampered, by a lack of infrastructure in the ports. Tackling logistics infrastructure deficit, he noted would open up large new trade opportunities both inside and outside the country as well as enhance returns on existing trade.

    He urged stakeholders in the industry to work together to boost exports and strengthen the domestic market by mapping out obstacles to the country’s trade.

    For watchers, high-cost logistics, poor infrastructure and lack of export financing are among the major bottlenecks that have long hindered agro exporters from expanding their reach.

    Currently, exports are still less significant to spur growth in compared to domestic consumption and direct investment, which are the top drivers of economic expansion.

    Another concern to address is the building up of the capacity of small and medium agro enterprises to increase their competitive edge over tighter competition from foreign goods, in the industry.

  • International tourism exports rise to US$ 1.5 trillion

    International tourism exports rise to US$ 1.5 trillion

    International tourism receipts increased by US$ 48 billion in 2014 to reach a record US$ 1,245 billion. An additional US$ 221 billion was generated from international passenger transport, bringing total exports from international tourism up to US$ 1.5 trillion.

    Receipts from international visitors spending on accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, shopping and other services and goods reached an estimated US$ 1,245 billion (euro 937 billion) in 2014, an increase of 3.7 per cent in real terms (taking into account exchange rate fluctuations and inflation). International tourist arrivals increased by 4.4 pr cent in 2014, reaching a total 1,135 million, up from 1,087 million in 2013.

    Aside from international tourism receipts (the travel item of the Balance of Payment), tourism also generates export earnings through international passenger transport services (rendered to non-residents). The latter amounted to an estimated US$ 221 billion in 2014, bringing total exports from international tourism up to US$ 1.5 trillion, or US$ 4 billion a day on average.

    “International tourism is an increasingly significant component of international trade as seen in export earnings from international tourism and passenger transport, which reached US$ 1.5 trillion in 2014” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

    “In a scenario with decreasing commodity prices, spending on international tourism grew significantly in 2014, proving the sector’s capacity to stimulate economic growth, boost exports and create jobs”, he added.

    International tourism (travel and passenger transport) represents 30 per cent of the world’s exports of services and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and food, ranking first in many developing countries.

    UNWTO also forecast that international tourism will grow in each region. Europe, which accounts for 41 per cent of worldwide international tourism receipts, saw an increase in tourism earnings in absolute terms of US$ 17 billion to US$ 509 billion (euro 383 billion).

    Asia and the Pacific (30 per cent share) saw an increase of US$ 16 billion, reaching US$ 377 billion (euro 284 bn).

    In the Americas, (22 per cent share), receipts increased by US$ 10 billion to a total of US$ 274 billion (euro 206 bn).

    In the Middle East (4% share), tourism receipts increased by an estimated US$ 4 billion to US$ 49 billion (euro 37 bn) and in Africa (three per cent share) by US$ 1 billion to US$ 36 billion (euro 27 bn).

    In the top ten ranking by tourism earnings, China climbed from 5th to 3rd place following a 10% increase in earnings to US$ 57 billion in 2014.

    The United States (US$ 177 billion) and Spain (US$ 65 billion) maintained first and second positions in the ranking.

    The United Kingdom (US$ 45 billion) moved up two positions to 7th, boosted by the lasting effects of the Olympics and the appreciation of the UK pound (increasing receipts calculated in US dollar terms).

    France, Macao (China) and Italy occupy the 4th to 6th positions respectively, while Germany, Thailand and Hong Kong (China) complete the top ten.

  • Nigeria’s exports to ECOWAS hit $6b

    Nigeria’s exports to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member-countries have been increasing yearly, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV Consultation Staff Report.

    They increased from $1 billion in 1990 to about $6 billion in 2013, IMF said.

    The report said the implementation in January 2015 of the Common External Tariffs (CET) for ECOWAS member-countries is expected to reduce incentives for informal trade and simplify customs procedures, potentially increasing recorded trade volumes.

    “Moreover, the slowdown in Nigeria will adversely affect informal exports to Nigeria. Anecdotal evidence indicates that goods that are subject to import restrictions in Nigeria have become key export goods for neighboring countries. Those informal exports to Nigeria are important sources of income for some neighboring countries and outward spillovers may be nontrivial,” it said.

    It said growing cross-border activity of Nigerian-based banks has increased the scope for spillovers through financial channels, along with regulatory and supervisory challenges.

    It said the depreciation of the exchange rate would add to inflation, reflecting the pass-through of higher domestic prices for imports, but the effect is likely to be contained, in part due to lower food prices from increased local production of staple food crops.

    The IMF said the outlook was compromised by low fiscal and external buffers, which have reduced the capacity to absorb shocks relative to the experience of the 2008-09 financial crisis.

    The lender said the government expressed its determination to implement appropriate measures to manage risks.

    “They agreed that the oil price shock is significant and, at least in part, permanent, but saw a smaller effect on economic activity than staff, owing to measures targeted at sectors critical for growth (agriculture, power, small enterprises) and the impact of remittances. They noted that rising food self-sufficiency would limit the pass-through to inflation and activity in housing construction would continue,” it said.

     

  • Nigeria’s killer exports

    Nigeria’s killer exports

    Rejection of 42 food items produced in the country by the UK for quality defects says a lot about what we consume

    Nigeria may have accepted its fate as a dumping ground for all manner of products. But the United Kingdom has demonstrated that it would not compromise its own standards, with its reported rejection of 42 processed and semi-processed food products of Nigerian origin between January and December, last year. In the period, 23 food commodities from Nigeria were destroyed, 11 re-dispatched while one was recalled from consumers and another one was subjected to official detention. Statistics from the European Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (EURASFF) which revealed the ugly development shows that the affected food products include sweet potato, cashew kernels, nutmeg, snails, soft drinks and sesame seeds, brown beans, melon seeds, honey beans, white beans and watermelon seeds. As a matter of fact, the contaminated and substandard food products from Nigeria are not limited to the UK; worse cases have been discovered in other European countries like Italy, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Belgium.

    That the figure of such products rejected last year was by far higher than that of 2013 should worry us the more. It is a proof that the trend is worsening. In 2013, only about 18 such items were rejected by the United Kingdom authorities. The fact that the figure had jumped to 24 last year, a quantum leap, implies that the relevant agencies that are supposed to ensure that food items in the country, whether for export or local consumption meet certain criteria, have gone to sleep or lack the capacity to perform their functions.

    We agree that every country has its own standards on such items, but the fact remains that there is a basic standard below which countries that place value on human lives will not fall. We are not surprised at the development because it is on record that some iporters tell foreign manufacturers to lower standards for products produced for the Nigerian market to enable the importers make abnormal profit at the expense of the consumers. The matter is worse for drugs, some of which fail to work or even lead to the death of consumers. If, as they say, health is wealth, it follows that any serious government must be concerned about what its country’s citizens consume. A situation where, after analyses, rodent excrement, dead insects, chemical contaminants like aluminium phosphide and dichlorvos, that are carcinogenic are found in food meant for human consumption does not speak well of the country. Reports even indicate that in some cases, chemicals used in fumigation, bacteria, fungi and mould growth were also noticed in some of the products. In more specific instances, some of the products like melon seeds were rejected due to illegal importation into the UK, some were destroyed because they had no health certificates, certified analytical reports, common entry documents and for poor state of preservation.

    If we are not to deceive ourselves, we know most of these things are true because they are what we see often in processed and semi-processed food items produced in the country. Regrettably, some of the producers of these items see themselves as being above the law. A few months ago, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and a soft drink producer in Nigeria were at loggerheads over a  can of one of its products that was half filled. We cannot recount the number of Nigerians who had found strange objects in their soft drinks. These are things we have come to accept as normal. But to think that any other country would take such is unfathomable. We have had so many cases of premature and inexplicable deaths in the country which are blamed on witches and supernatural forces whereas they were the result of the consumption of some of these products. Unfortunately we never know the true causes of these deaths because many of them are not reported in hospitals for analysis and documentation.

    It would have been better to check these lapses from within. But since we cannot, the rejection of these products abroad should wake the relevant authorities to their responsibilities. Nigeria needs to earn more foreign exchange to augment its revenue from crude oil which is dependent on the vagaries of the international market. But we cannot make money when the quality of our exported items is suspect. In this respect, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) which has been mandated to certify packaged, semi-processed and processed food commodities for export should see the rejection of our food items abroad as a wake-up call. It is its duty to ensure that exporters of any item under its jurisdiction meet the required standards before certifying them for export. Where the agency needs any assistance, the government should not hesitate to provide it to save the country the perennial embarrassment of rejection of our exported food items.

  • Govt urged to back non-oil exports

    Govt urged to back non-oil exports

    The Federal Government has been urged to initiate policies and incentives to encourage non-oil exports.

    The Senior Consultant/CEO, RTC Advisory Services Limited, Opeyemi Agbaje stated this yesterday in Lagos at a forum titled: ‘Review of 2014 and Projections for 2015,’ organised by the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN).

    He said: “We have achieved significant diversification in terms of local production and consumption, but we are not competitive in exports.

    He said South Africa’s exports revenue is driven by companies such as MTN, DSTV and South African Breweries, adding that the challenge for the Nigerian economy is for government to create policies and incentives that will allow the private sector to become exporters.

    If our export revenue is earned by thousands of Nigerian companies exporting their services, we would not collapse anytime the price of oil falls, he said.

    “We also need to start refining our oil domestically and exporting it. We should be one of the biggest exporters of refined petroleum products in the world,” he said.

  • Forces against non-oil exports

    Forces against non-oil exports

    With the shift to non-oil sector, particularly manufacturing, following the falling oil prices, there is a clamour for the establishment of a National Quality Policy (NQP).  The policy’s final draft may be ready in March. It will, among others, increase the competitiveness of local products in the international market, reports Assistant Editor chikodi ekereocha. 

    The National President, Association of Systems Management Consultants, Mazi Coleman Obasi, is worried. The certified quality management practitioner is troubled that despite assurances by the authorities that the draft document for the proposed National Quality Policy (NQP) for Nigeria would be ready before the end of last year, nothing has happened. He wonders why the formulation and subsequent adoption of the document is delayed despite that the European Union (EU) voted 12 million Euros (about N2.5billion) last year for the establishment of a National Accreditation System.

    The fund is meant to support the enhancement of the national quality infrastructure to improve the quality, safety, integrity, and marketability of made-in-Nigeria goods and services.

    For Obasi, and indeed stakeholders in the sector, such intervention by the EU could not have come at a better time, considering that the administration is emphasising the non-oil sector in the face of the economic downturn caused by the plunge in oil prices.The development, which has since put the nation’s finances under pressure, is seen by some development experts as a blessing in disguise. Expectedly, it has forced the Federal Government to shift focus to the non-oil sector, which, experts say, is more inclusive and growth-oriented.

    Besides, the sector is characterised by high economic linkages and is also more sustainable. This was why the EU and other international technical partners decided to intervene in the hope of increasing the competitiveness of local products at the international market.

    Under the EU-funded National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) project, implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development (UNIDO), with the support of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the objective, according to the UNIDO Country and West Africa Director, Dr. Patrick Kormawa, is to improve the quality of products made in Nigeria for them to be sold internally and in the international market. He expressed the hope that the initiative will produce a legislation that will contain a NQP, and establish an internationally recognised National Accreditation Body (NAB) that will vet  regulatory agencies, such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    Kormawa, while announcing the EU’s commitment, said the initiative would help develop a National Metrology Institute (NMI) to ensure that instruments are of international standards, improve the capacity of members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to conform to standards and assessment bodies. It will also enhance the powers of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and other consumer organisations to sensitise consumers on quality standards and ensure improved consumer protection. But these never happened, which is why Obasi and other stakeholders are calling on the authorities to fast-track the establishment of an NQP.  “Quality is number one. It is the first thing that ought to be considered as the nation focuses on building a robust export-based economy,” Obasi told The Nation.

    Obasi is right. At present, locally manufactured products and services lack global quality certification. They are denied access to markets in developed economies, a situation that has been a pain in the neck of manufacturers, as their productivity and competitiveness continue to suffer. According to Obasi, Nigeria, despite being acknowledged globally as one of the largest consumer markets, is yet to be accredited by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the regulatory arm of the International Standardisation Organissation (ISO). He said countries, such as South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Kenya and Mauritius have since been accredited by the IAF, in line with global emphasis on quality.

    For Nigeria to be accredited by IAF, it must have in place an NQI, which refers to all aspects of metrology, standardisation, testing, quality management, certification and accreditation that have a bearing on conformity assessment. It requires the establishment of NAB, NMI, CPC, Standards Regulatory Agencies, Conformity Assessment Agency or Bodies, Quality Education and Competency Training and Certification Institutions. While the NMI is supposed to perform all the metrological and calibration, the conformity assessment agency on the other hand, certifies private companies, ensuring that their products conform to specific characteristics, increase consumers’ confidence and also create incentives for producers to upgrade their production processes.

    According to experts, the creation of these key systems and institutions will boost the competitiveness of locally made products at the international market and ensure the global acceptance of products and services from Nigeria. These key systems and institutions are what the NQP is supposed to support, but unfortunately, Nigeria, after 54 years of independence, still does not have an NQI, which is an important tool for the establishment and implementation of the NQP, which is expected to usher the economy into a new phase of growth and development.

    The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, admitted this when he said the NQP would produce a broad-based system that would provide quality specifications for all manufactured products in the country. The Minister, who spoke at the inaugural meeting of the National Steering Committee (NSC) of the NQP, in Abuja, said the policy would re-engineer the quality infrastructure and the technical regulation regimes and help the Federal Government execute its economic plans.

    Incidentally, Aganga is the Chairman of the NSC, while the Director-General (DG) of SON, Dr Joseph Odumodu, is Secretary. The NSC, inaugurated last year by President Goodluck Jonathan, is charged with driving the establishment of the NQP. The broad-based inter-ministerial steering committeeis mandated to review and harmonise quality policies in Nigeria,prepare a draft NQP that is acceptable to stakeholders, and support the approval and implementation of the NQP.

    Odumodu also recognised that the policy is vital to national development because of its role in facilitating international trade. According to him, the lack of NQP had over the years made harmonisation of the available quality infrastructure difficult, thereby limiting the benefits, particularly in driving competitiveness and international market access. He said Nigeria’s standard operation was faced with many challenges with the attendant overlap of interests and activities, which sometimes result to disagreements.The cause of this, he pointed out, was the lack of NQP to hold the system and make it functional and efficient enough to earn global confidence. In other words, an NQP policy would set bases and rules for the players, harmonise the role of various players, and provide a commitment to complying with international standards.

    Odumodu further noted that until now, the determined efforts of the agency to curb the menace of substandard products have been marred by the absence of a national quality policy, adding that the policy would bring sanity to a system that is highly profitable to the actors. He noted that the new policy would  act as catalyst for local productivity and quick adaptation of best global standards and practices to enthrone quality culture, improved management and process systems and work environments, in addition to attaining efficiency and products competitiveness, reduce importation and increase exports.

    If everything goes as planned, the benefits of an NQP would start coming the way of Nigerians in the export business and the economy from March, this year when the draft document for the proposed policy is expected to be ready. Already, the final document is being edited in line with the time schedule drawn up by the steering committee, according to Dr. Paul Angya, chairman, Technical Secretariat of NSC. He told The Nation that between November and December, last year, the committee  toured the six geopolitical zones of the country with the draft quality document for validating and getting the nod of stakeholders.

    Angya said the committee visited Sokoto, in the Northwest; Minna, Northcentral; Lagos, Southwest; Enugu, Southeast, and Calabar, Southsouth. The final tour, according to him, was on December 13, last year, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and that in each  zone’s stakeholders endorsed the document.

    He disclosed that the coming general election is responsible for the delay in getting the final draft ready for presentation to the Federal Executive Council (FEC). He added that as soon as the elections were over, the document would be ready. “Now we are editing the final document, which will be ready by March this year for presentation to the FEC and subsequent passage by an Act of Parliament,” he said.

  • Fed Govt earns $3b from non-oil exports

    Fed Govt earns $3b from non-oil exports

    Nigeria’s non-oil exports grew by 15.9 per cent to $3 billion in 2013, a data by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has shown.

    But non-oil exports from the country to other membercountries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) stood at $375 million during the period, showing an increase of 20 per cent year-on-year.

    The FBN Capital Research, which gave the figures in a report released at the weekend, said inflows from the segment of the economy were encouraging.

    It said cocoa emerged as the leading non-oil export commodity, earning $759 million. Nigeria is ranked the world’s fourth largest exporter of cocoa and its by-products.

    The Nigerian Export Promotion Council Amendment Decree No. 64 of 1992 was promulgated to enhance the performance of the council by minimising bureaucratic bottlenecks and increasing autonomy in dealing with members of the organised private sector (OPS). The council has a governing board drawn from the public and the private sectors.

    The investment and research firm listed Nigeria, Angola and South Africa as the three leading exporters to the United States  in 2013 within the provisions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

    For Nigeria to effectively tap into the segment, the firm said export commodities should meet high standards to compete in the global market.

    The NEPC, the firm said, identified 14 key non-traditional products which offered comparative advantage. Cassava, shea products and potatoes featured on the list.

    The report said: “Equally, there are multiple challenges for non-oil exporters. These include infrastructure deficiencies, high costs of production and weak logistics.  A disturbing obstacle is the bad reputation associated with the products, which has led manufacturers in some segments to brand their goods other than ‘made in Nigeria’.”

    It said Nigerian cuisine and the film industry (Nollywood) are areas the government  intended to promote globally.

    Taking a cue from China, which has a strong global presence in the export of its cuisine, the government, the report added, would initially focus on cities, such as London, Houston, Toronto and Johannesburg, which have high Diaspora population.

    “We see sustained growth ahead in export diversification due to developments in agribusiness, the cement segment and mining. While substantial oil production losses may have raised the profile of non-oil exports, we should remember that Nigeria’s economic model is based on import substitution rather than export diversification,” it said.

    The government’s focus, the report added, was the creation of employment through import substitution, preferably in the taxpaying formal economy, and the resulting foreign exchange savings from the domestic production of, for example, food crops, vehicles and petroleum products.

    Already, the NEPC and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) are exploring new areas of development and promotion of the Non-oil Export sector.

    The council has collaborated with the UNIDO in human capital development with the establishment of leather and leather products Common Facility Centre (CFC) at Aba, Abia State; Kano CFC, on textiles and the Human Capital Development Centre (HCDC) also known as the AGOA Training School in Ikoyi, Lagos.

     

  • How to boost agro exports

    Exporters of agricultural products need a helping hand from the government to overcome challenges they face in trying to reach  new markets abroad and diversify their offerings.

    The  Chief  Executive, The Thy  Consulting,  Ismail AbdulAzeez  told The Nation there was  urgent  need for  the  government to  support  efforts to accelerate  economic  development through trade, by strengthening the capacity of the  Nigeria Export  Promotion Council(NEPC)  to provide business development services that meet the needs of agribusiness exporters.

    He  urged  the government to demonstrate readiness to assist  exporters to boost agribusiness and increase non-traditional exports.

    The  sector,  he  explained, has  a potential for commercial agriculture,  urging   the government to partner with others to  bring real economic benefits  through  international  trade.

    One way  to achieve this,  he  said,  was through promoting   collaboration with   the   network of local export  development  centres as  well  as chambers of commerce, universities and educational institutions and other private service providers.

    The  result, he  maintained, ,would  be  an   efficient trade support network providing export development services to agribusiness exporters.

    AbdulAzeez said  exporters need to improve their capacities to   better understand and implement food safety systems based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP),required  for  agro exports.

    He emphasised that exporters need to be taught how to improve food safety since importers in Asia, Europe and North America all demand food safety standards compliance.

  • Expert optimistic about more jobs from tourism sector in 2014

    Expert optimistic about more jobs from tourism sector in 2014

    Mr. Wale Odeyemi, the Zonal Coordinator, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, South West Campus, on Friday said that tourism sector would boost employment in the country in 2014.

    Odeyemi disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    According to him, a lot of hotels and recreation centres are springing up across the country and these would take some unemployed youths off the streets.

    “Tourism industry has a lot of prospects for the unemployed youths as more hotels and other recreation centres are developing across the country.

    “There is hardly a place you travel to without noticing new hotel being opened. Such a development will indeed boost employment in 2014, if the trend continues,” Odeyemi told NAN.

    He said that it was important that relevant government authorities should ensure that hotels built by investors meet the minimum standards required in the hospitality industry.

    The tourism expert said that poor infrastructure was the major challenge facing the development of tourism in the country.

    Odeyemi said that under-developed infrastructure had discouraged more investors from coming to invest in the industry.

    He urged the three tiers of government to collaborate with the private sector to ensure the development of adequate infrastructure, especially in the remote areas.

    Odeyemi said that such a gesture would add value to tourism sites located in the remote areas.

    Source: (NAN)