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Tag: NEPC

  • NEPC sees non-oil revenue rising to $25b

    NEPC sees non-oil revenue rising to $25b

    Earnings from non-oil export are expected to jump from $2.7 billion to $25 billion by 2025, the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has predicted.

    It said this would be achieved through its new strategy tagged: ‘Zero Oil Plan’.

    Its Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Olusegun Awolowo, described the plan as a strategy to mobilise private and public resources to replace oil as the country’s major source of foreign exchange (forex).

    He said this became inevitable in the face of the fall in global oil prices, adding that the era of Nigeria depending on oil as its primary source of forex was gone.

    According to him, the country’s continued reliance on oil would only decrease its economic fortunes, stressing that it was high time the nation embarked on non-oil exports.

    He said the Council had taken a proactive step at increasing Nigeria’s forex earnings through non-oil exports by developing the zero oil plan.

    He said: “The Zero Oil Plan is a coherent agenda to mobilise public and private resources towards replacing oil as our number one source of forex.

    “Under the plan, Nigeria will position itself to gain at least a five per cent share of a total value of world exports in strategic sectors over the next 10 years, to ensure sufficient scale of production and prevent sudden market distortions.

    “At the end of ten years, it is hoped that our non-oil export revenue would increase from $2.7billion in 2014 to $25billion in 2025.”

    He further said the Council, in collaboration with an indigenous export consulting firm, is undertaking a practical and detail training series that would build a crop of knowledgeable exporters to raise the contribution of the non-oil export sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

    According to him, the training tagged: ‘The making of new exporters’, aims at training would-be exporters through the entire process of export business from conception to execution and after care services by experts from the sector who will play the role of mentors.

    “The programme, which was slated to run for nine months, was targeted at creating market opportunities for Nigerian exporters as well as providing a veritable platform for training new crops of exporters that would help enhance the quality of Nigeria’s exportable goods,” Awolowo added.

  • NEPC eyes $100b from non-oil sector

    NEPC eyes $100b from non-oil sector

    The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) yesterday said it is targeting $100 billion foreign exchange (forex) earnings from the non-oil sector of the economy in 12 years.

    Its Executive Director/CEO, Olusegun Awolowo who spoke at international trade seminar organised by Zenith Bank in Lagos, with Exporting for Growth: Opportunities in Non-oil Export as its theme stressed the need to diversify the economy from oil by growing the non-oil export segment from $8 billion in 2019; $25 billion in 2025, and eventually between $70 to $100 billion between the next 12 and 15 years.

    Awolowo, however, said as part of strategy to boost the sector, NEPC has implemented rigorous screening criteria to map out the most promising non-oil export sectors for Nigeria which would be reviewed periodically.

  • NEPC briefs Osinbajo on non-oil export plan

    NEPC briefs Osinbajo on non-oil export plan

    The Executive Director/CEO, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, yesterday briefed the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on its plans to boost non-oil exports.

    He briefed the Vice President when he visited him in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said the visit was to get the Vice President to buy into NEPC’s new plan  tagged-Zero Oil Plan.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, he said: “This is a plan that we think will really help Nigeria out of the doldrums we now face; we are facing a drop of revenue of over $30 billion. Our revenue on oil has fallen from $70billion to almost $40 billion; that alone can kill a country if we are not careful.

    “We are the apex agency for the promotion of non-oil products in Nigeria. So we have come up with this Zero Oil Plan which we are getting the stakeholders’ buy-in all over, and which our Minister will formally come and present to Mr President.”

  • NEPC eyes N691b non-oil revenue

    NEPC eyes N691b non-oil revenue

    •1.5m jobs through SMEs

    The Executive Director, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Segun Awolowo has said the agency is planning to grow the nation’s non-oil revenue by 30 per cent over the next four years.

    Awolowo, who spoke in a telephone interview, said the income generated from non-oil exports stood at $2.7billion (N531billion) as at December last year and a 30 per cent increase will see the figure rise to $3.51billion (N691billion) in the next four years.

    He said the council is also planning to generate 1.5 million jobs in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector of the economy in the next five years.

    He said the country has not fully benefited from Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) because Nigeria went into the scheme without a strategy.

    Awolowo said now that President Obama has renewed AGOA for another 10 years, the agency will do everything possible to ensure that Nigeria fully benefits from it, adding that NEPC will continue to support capacity development for exporters and working on new exporter development programme.

    He said: “I always use the Australian example, they moved from 4,000 to 74, 000 exporters. With that, they increased the value of their non-oil export by over 4,000 fold. The more exporters you have, obviously the more things are going out. We are now more interested in intelligent trade information, and in what our neighbouring countries are importing from the West and, we are saying: why can’t we do it from here and just drive it across the border?

    “When Nigeria approached AGOA when it was enacted, they went without a strategy. So, one of the things we have done is to work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to develop a strategy for AGOA. This time, we are going (to AGOA) prepared.

    “As you know, AGOA is a non-reciprocal trade preference programme that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries. AGOA preferences apply to approximately 7,000 tariff lines. We are planning workshops for small exporters on specified training for standards and non-technical barriers to trade.”

    He said the agency is collaborating with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to improve on the standard of products.

    “There is going to be a lot of inter-agency collaboration as well as capacity building and we are setting up committees for standardisation to work on that. This will be launched very soon. We are emphasising on capacity building because when we visited the U.K. on an inspection of some of their ports to understand why we get so much rejects, we found out that some of the reasons are simply administrative, the wrong documentation.

    “Everything is computerised in Europe; so when the wrong thing is ticked, it stops the process. We are also talking with the Nigeria Customs on building an export hub. The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has a trade hub, the import section of that hub is totally loaded but not the export section, so we are trying to get that off the ground,” he said.

  • NEPC moves to end rejection of Nigerian exports

    NEPC moves to end rejection of Nigerian exports

    The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has promised that by next year, goods produced in the country will stop being rejected at the international market.

    Its Executive Director, Olusegun Awolowo who spoke during the visit of the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali (rtd) to the agency’s Abuja office, assured that by next year, there will be zero rejection of exported goods from the country.

    He said: “A committee of agencies involving customs, NEPC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and others were sent on fact finding mission, on reasons Nigerian exported products have always been rejected. It was discovered that most of the products did not go through proper documentation, which is the major reason for the rejections.

    “Another point of note is that the export earnings figure is seriously taking a down turn. In 2011, the export earning was $2.7billion. In 2012, it was $2.5billion (7,4 per cent); 2013, it was $2.97billion (13.7per cent); 2014 figure was $2.71billion (8.62 per cent). In Q1 2014, it was  $814million; Q1 2015, it was $652million, representing (19.86per cent). In Q2 2014, it was  $664million; Q2 2015, it was  $391million (39.25per cent).

    “Job creation through non-export products, 2005  was 105,220; 2010-211,29;  2012-183,823; 2013-159, 926 while beneficiary companies in 2011 was 194; 2013-147 (24.2per cent).

  • FCMB, NEPC host exporters forum

    FCMB, NEPC host exporters forum

    First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited will this week, host businesses and other stakeholders involved in export trade at a forum in Lagos.

    The event with the theme: “Enhancing Capacity for Export Trade”, is in partnership with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

    The interactive forum is in continuation of the bank’s efforts to boost export trade and help customers tap into the numerous benefits associated with the business through sensitisation and capacity enhancement.

    The Executive Director/Chief Executive of the NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, and top officials of the Nigeria Export-Import Bank and Bank of Industry are expected to attend the forum with other regulatory bodies.

    According to the Executive Director, Business Development of FCMB, Adam Nuru, “the customer’s forum is another way FCMB demonstrates the willingness to go the extra mile towards contributing to the growth of their businesses”.

    According to him, the bank is committed to assisting stakeholders to reduce challenges that hinder effective export trade in the country.

  • NBCC, NEPC target foreign investment at UK trade mission

    Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) have concluded arrangements to lead a delegation of 40 business executives on a five-day trade mission to the United Kingdom between November 2 and 6.  The aim is to attract foreign investment to the country with focus on multi sectors, particularly the non-oil products and services.

    NBCC President, Prince Dapo Adelegan, in a statement in Lagos, stated that the Chamber was committed to increasing trade relations between Nigeria and Britain. He said the Chamber’s partnership with NEPC was to enhance its drive to attract UK investors to different states in Nigeria during the UK trade mission. He pointed out that the trade mission will provide opportunities for state governors to showcase the investment potential in their various states.

    Adelegan said: “During the trip, premium members of the chamber and other delegates will have a face-to-face interaction with high level business leaders in the UK, trade related government officials, and a number of UK-based Chambers of Commerce.” He described Nigeria as one of the best destinations for business with its position as the biggest economy in Africa, having enjoyed political stability in the past few years.

    The NBCC boss noted that the highlight of the mission will be the presentations from the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA). He said they will participate in a-two-day ‘Made in Nigeria Exhibition’ organised to showcase made-in-Nigeria products.

    NBCC has in the past partnered the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI), a joint effort that has translated to the steady growth of trade relations between the two countries, with trade volume increasing from £4 billion to £8 billion between 2010 and 2014.

  • Nigeria loses N345bn to smuggling of Shea products – NEPC

    Nigeria loses N345 billion to smuggling of Shea products yearly, the Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, has said.

    He said the huge sum lost to smuggling made the NEPC to intervene in Shea butter development in the country.

    Awolowo, who spoke on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of a two- day Shea 2015 conference in Abuja with the theme: “Shea Sector Development in Nigeria – A Concerted Renaissance,” added that Nigeria was now the global leader in Shea export.

    Stakeholders in the sector at the conference said that Shea had the potential to contribute over $3 billion dollars to the Nigerian economy.

    He said: “NEPC intervention in Shea butter development in Nigeria stems from this: every year, nearly N345 billion is lost to smuggling of Shea products.

    “Over the past 10 years, demands for Shea products have grown both in the European Union and in the United States necessitating Nigeria and other West African states to go into the export of Shea products.

    “The global demand for Shea butter is worth about $10 billion dollars and it is projected to be worth about $30 billion dollars by the year 2020.

    “Nigerian Shea has not only penetrated the American market but has done so while adhering to the highest international quality standard. Nigeria is now said to be the global leader in Shea export.”

    Awolowo explained that Shea products produced in 16 states of the federation suffers from poor quality control.

     

  • NEPC restates commitment to export trade

    NEPC restates commitment to export trade

    The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has restated its commitment to the non-oil export.

    Giving this charge was the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo. The event was at a seminar tagged: ‘Export for Beginners: Export Trade Procedures, Documentation and Product handling’ in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

    The NEPC boss said the need to galvanise efforts towards the growth and expansion of the non-oil exports has become inevitable, in view of the dwindling fortunes of the nation’s oil revenue, caused largely by the volatility of the oil prices in the global market in recent times.

    The Councils’ boss who was represented by the Zonal Controller, NEPC, Lagos Zonal Office, Barr. George Enyiekpon, observed that in the past, many exporters who had attempted to venture into the export market had their fingers badly burnt because they went about it in a wrong way, which is why the Council deemed it fit to organise the interface and discussion session to guide prospective exporters.

    “It is on record that made-in Nigerian goods, over the years have elicited great demand from the international market due to compliance by serious Nigerian exporters to work according to acceptable quality specifications,” he stressed.

    Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ogun State, who was represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Olufemi Olaoluwa, said indeed the nonoil export can be a viable foreign exchange earner if well harnessed.

    The misconceived notion that crude oil is the only lucrative and major export and foreign exchange earner is regrettable, he said.

    “Great opportunities rivalling proceeds from oil still abound. Nigerians need to key into this sector,” he said.

    Mrs. Francisca Odega, Chief Trade Promotion Officer, NEPC, implored prospective exporters to perfect all the documentation required in order to profit from their businesses.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Yakubu Olagunju, Head of Administration and Human Resources, NEPC, Lagos, said there is need for would-be exporters to have a better understanding of the international trade before they take the plunge to avoid costly mistakes.

    On his part, Otunba Toyin Taiwo, President, Ogun state Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA), who was represented by Chief Bidemi Mulero, the Secretary General of OGUNCCIMA, while lauding the NEPC for its commitment towards the growth and development of the non-oil exports, however impressed on the Council, the need to scale up its activities in Ogun state, in terms of awareness creation among others.

  • Diamond Bank, NEPC partner on export delivery

    Diamond Bank Plc, in partnership with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), has reaffirmed its commitment to effective and efficient export service delivery.

    In a two-day training programme, hinged on managing effective export desk in banks, the lender stated that effective and efficient export service delivery is one of the surest ways the financial services sub-sector could help stimulate economic activity in the country.

    The training helped in improving the skills of the bank’s staff on the export desk and promoting efficient export service delivery in the bank. Benefiting staff were selected from its branch network across all the geo-political zones in the country.

    The bank’s Executive Director, OladeleAkinyemi, said its involvement in the training is to promote a stress-free and prompt transaction processes in export trade for the growth of the economy.

    He said: “It is imperative to encourage a synergy between government agencies and financial institutions to aid smooth flow of business in the exportation of Made-in-Nigeria goods. Diamond Bank as a financial institution seeks to be a leader in export trade by putting in place a system that is beyond ordinary banking for export customers. Our desire is to be on ground to offer professional advice that would add value to our customers in their business transactions. Therefore, we are training our staff members to think and act as exporters as well”.

    The Chief Executive Officer, NEPC, Segun Awolowo who was ably represented by Olajide Ibrahim, Executive Director, NEPC, praised the collaboration, adding that it will enhance capacity building for personnel that are assigned to manage export desks.

    “The NEPC has viewed the aspect of Export Desks-cum-finance as very vital to non-oil export promotion, hence the need for a deliberate intervention plan. This training and capacity building workshop will facilitate quick access to finance by the Nigerian exporters,” he stated.

    Facilitator of the session, Obiora Madu, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer MultimMix Academy, praised the lender for being the first bank to approach the NEPC for consultation on such training.  According to him, “This is simply a reflection of the bank’s commitment to make exporters have strong backing in their business transactions”.

    The Area Comptroller, Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Port, Lagos, Charles Edike, also lauded the bank for taking the initiative to train its staff and rightly position them for efficient export service delivery especially as the new government is very keen on promoting the exportation of goods from the non-oil sector.

    He said: “Nigeria has abundant resources that are yet to be harnessed for export trade. We are excited that Diamond Bank has taken this all-important issue to the academy to educate bankers on the export business. The knowledge gained here cannot be over emphasised as it will ensure that we have the best hands managing the export desks of the bank.”