Tackle unstructured procedures that cause delays, corruption, rejection of exports LCCI tells CBN

Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has asked the Nigeria government to tackle the Challenges that lead to rejection of exports from Nigeria. In a statement signed by the Director General of the Chamber Dr. Chinyere Almona, FCA said “one major challenge in Nigeria’s export chain is the unstructured procedures that cause delays, corruption, and rejection of exports. These facilities should be well directed to process targeted products in which Nigeria has some comparative advantage such as sesame, cashew, cocoa into finished goods. The reason for the low FOREX revenue from exports is due to the export of primary unprocessed commodities. Nigeria must take bold steps to establish a trading system that supports the seamless flow of trade, establish the necessary infrastructure, create needed awareness towards exploring the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

“The plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to repatriate the sum of US$200billion from non-oil export in the next three to five years is commendable against the background of having more diversified revenue sources in the economy. The Race to US$200billion in FX Repatriation (RT200 FX Programme) requires the right policies, critical export infrastructure, international trade diplomacy, and adequate funding to achieve the desired results within the stipulated period. The programme’s major pillars are built on the five key anchors of Value-Adding Exports Facility, Non-Oil Commodities Expansion Facility, Non-Oil FX Rebate Scheme, Dedicated Non-Oil Export Terminal, Biannual Non-Oil Export Summit. There is a need to enlighten the public and especially experienced and potential exporters on the terms and conditions around these facilities and programmes to enhance the participation of the business community.

“Under the CBN’s Targeted Credit Facility, the apex bank has intervened with more than N2trillion support to agriculture according to the CBN release. While we commend the CBN for these interventions, we caution that more investment should be made in critical infrastructure to ensure the repayment of these facilities. Currently, there are many credit facilities extended to farmers and manufacturers that may suffer non-repayment due to the high cost of production. We urge caution in the way the CBN intervenes in various sectors of the economy as this indicates an element of a dysfunctional economic system.

“Beyond the loans to support value addition to our exports, there is an urgent need to improve the export infrastructure at our ports, create more digital platforms to reduce the human interface for exports and formulate the right policies. To this end, we urge the government to accelerate the plan to build domestic export warehouses by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). The concern of the Chamber is that without infrastructure, the grants may end up as lost ventures. Finally, there should be deeper stakeholder consultation and collaboration with the organised private sector in the implementation of this programme.