The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) on Wednesday, in Abuja, emphasised the need for Nigeria to embrace non-oil exports as a major driver in the diversification of the economy.
The Executive Director of NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak, said this at a news conference on the forthcoming National Conference on Non-oil Export, scheduled for April 26 to April 27 in Abuja.
He said that the event with the theme, “Export for Survival: Optimising Nigeria’s Non-oil Export Potentials’’ would help boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.
Yakusak added that the conference would also serve as a platform for stakeholders in the non-oil export sector to ventilate viewpoints on current and emerging issues affecting non-oil exports.
According to him, it would further provide an avenue for the stakeholders to articulate a harmonised position for achieving a sustainable non-oil export performance.
“It may interest you to note that the preceding years had shown deep susceptibilities in the non-oil export sector of the economy in particular and indeed the Nigerian economy in general.
“This had been mainly due to the uncertainties faced from global crude oil prices and the adverse effect of COVID-19. In the last 15 years, the Naira had recorded over 300 per cent devaluation.
“This disturbing trend had been attributed to Nigeria’s inability to earn foreign exchange from other products, due to our mono-cultural economy,’’ Yakusak said.
While saying that modalities were in place to ensure a hitch-free conference, Yakusak said that Nigeria’s export potential would be showcased by exhibiting non-oil exportable products.
He added that topics on issues disrupting Nigeria’s non-oil export and innovative solutions would also be discussed.
“Others are sustainable market access for Nigerian non-oil export and strengthening institutional capacity for effective trade facilitation,’’ Yakusak said.
