Mrs Adaku Chidume-Okoro, Group Managing Director, Gum Arabic Company Nigeria (GACON), has appealed to the Federal Government to scale up efforts in encouraging non-oil export activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chidume-Okoro made the appeal at the two-day national conference on non-oil export, organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conference is with the theme; \u201cExport for Survival: Optimising Nigeria\u2019s Non-Oil Export Potential\u2019\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chidume-Okoro, in her discussion on \u201cEmerging Issues Disrupting Nigeria\u2019s Non-Oil Exports and Innovative Solutions\u2019\u2019, urged the Federal Government to look beyond dependence on crude oil as major income earner for Nigeria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to her, to optimise the full potential in the non-oil export sector, government and stakeholders must begin to identify the emerging issues disrupting the sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She listed the war in Ukraine, food safety and traceability issues, organic foods, certifications, digital world and COVID-19 impact as some of the global factors disrupting the activities of the non-oil sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the other hand, weakening of the Naira is a major domestic factor adversely affecting Nigeria\u2019s non-oil export sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo doubt, these disruptive events both at the global and domestic levels have unsettled the status quo in the traditional Nigerian non-oil export sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA good strategist sees great opportunities in disruptions. It is a time to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions that will skyrocket the Nigerian non-oil export to an all-time high performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis can be achieved by harnessing opportunities so thrown up by the disruptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnless this is done, the sector will be critically hit in the face of apparent challenges thrown up by the disruptions,\u2019\u2019 she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While examining the present situation in Nigeria\u2019s non-oil export sector, Chidume-Okoro said that the turnaround time of 30 days minimum was too long for containerised agro product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She advocated that intervention and checks by about 10 governmental agencies could be streamlined, noting that the long rigmarole is killing export. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chidume-Okoro also solicited federal government\u2019s intervention on international trade barriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor example gum arabic from Sudan and Chad are duty exempt in China and India, whereas same product from Nigeria is under heavy duty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis makes Nigerian gum arabic unattractive to China and India markets. Our government will need to intervene in this matter by discussing with the governments of India and China,\u2019\u2019 she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She, however, said that more support to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) would serve as innovative solution that would enhance non-oil export growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to her, SMEs are catalyst for the desired non-oil export boom and they should be encouraged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRecent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) incentives tend to support and encourage mainly the big players in the Industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGovernment should go out of its way to encourage non-oil exports activities that guarantee job security and boost employment for bottom of pyramid members of the value chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGovernment must also de-emphasise mechanisation that results in job loss,\u2019\u2019 she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chidume-Okoro called for the provision of separate terminals for exports equipped with transit commodities handling warehouses as different from that of imports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, she called for improved access to the shipping terminal by road as well as application of technology in non-oil export value chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She further tasked NEPC and CBN to introduce incentive product which would make available to non\u2013oil export SMEs non-collateralised, single digit interest loans for their working capital. <\/p>\n\n\n
Mrs Adaku Chidume-Okoro, Group Managing Director, Gum Arabic Company Nigeria (GACON), has appealed to the Federal Government to scale up efforts in encouraging non-oil export activities. Chidume-Okoro made the appeal at the two-day national conference on non-oil export, organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). The conference is with the theme; \u201cExport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":42068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[235],"tags":[555],"class_list":["post-42067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-nepc","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n