Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has declared that Nigeria is moving quickly away from oil dependence and the Federal Government will continue to support Nigerian exporters through its various agencies bringing about necessary reforms to boost the growth of the country’s non-oil exports.
Osinbajo, who stated this Friday at the State House, Abuja when he played host to a delegation of major agro-exporters in the country, also urged exporters to take advantage of opportunities for growth in the African market through the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA.
The delegation came with the CEO/Executive Director of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Mr. Segun Awolowo who formally developed a Zero-Oil Plan designed to move Nigeria away from being an oil-dependent economy.
Highlighting the approval of the National Development Plan by the Federal Executive Council, the VP stated that one of the major components of that plan is that the country is trying to move away as much as possible from our dependence on oil and gas proceeds as our major sources of foreign exchange.
While noting that Nigeria is a principal player in the AfCFTA agreements, the VP stated that Nigerian exporters and businesses can be major beneficiaries of the Agreements.
He said: “we believe attention needs to be paid to exports generally. Of all the various plans of government that we have, one of the critical things for us now is that we all know that we are moving away very quickly from oil. For us economically, beginning now, we cannot afford to have a situation where for any reason at all, an area of competitive advantage for us which is agro-export suffers in any way on account of something we can help. Anything we can do, there shouldn’t be a cause for any kind of hindrance to agro-export.”
Osinbajo further stated that government agencies will continue to explore measures to boost exports and improve the economy generally.
According to him, “most of the government agencies here have already worked with us in the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) (which the VP chairs). As members of PEBEC, we already know what government’s intentions and desires are and we are not averse to criticisms or comments coming from the end-users of government services.
e should be able to have a robust, free and frank conversation so that we can take steps to remedy whatever needs to be remedied so that we can achieve something for our country and people.”
In his remarks, the Executive Director of NEPC, Mr. Awolowo, commended the Federal Government for its efforts and giving credence to non-oil exports in the National Development Plan, adding that the country could no longer rely on oil as its major foreign exchange earner.
In the same vein, the presidential Special Adviser on Ease of Doing Business, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, highlighted efforts by government to tackle challenges and improve the business environment, such as automation of processes and single window interfaces as it affects trading in and out of the country.
Similarly, the Acting MD, Nigeria Ports Authority, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, spoke on efforts by the NPA to tackle issues related to export trade and further boost the country’s exports.
Bello-Koko noted that with the call-up system, special concessions are given to export containers as long as they are good to go, which means the shipping company is ready to accept the container and documentation is complete and ready.”
He also mentioned that NPA is working with Nigeria Export Promotion Council to create export processing terminals, about 10 in Lagos and about five in Ogun.
In their remarks, the agro-exporters thanked the VP for the opportunity to interact with him and the efforts by government towards finding solutions to their business challenges, including the issues with delays at the ports, as well as charges from shipping lines that encumber exports.
They also called for fast-tracking for the shipment of perishable items out of the country.
