The Federal Government on Tuesday disclosed that a total $200bn non-oil export income target is not the only solution to the fragile state of the nation’s economy.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo made this known at the second edition of the RT200 Bi-annual conference held in Lagos State.
The Program is a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) initiative aimed at stimulating non-oil exports, with a $200 billion FX income target in the next three to five years.
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He said, “We as a ministry are ready and able to collaborate with the CBN to assist exporters in their trade.
“This export team which will be controlling non-oil export with audacious target of 200 billion dollar income, is exactly what we need at a time like this.”
The minister who spoke on ‘exploring the non-oil exports as a new frontier for foreign exchange influx’ hoped that the event devises various methods to drive the growth of the non-oil sector.
Adebayo noted that Nigeria’s biggest developmental ambition is the diversification of the country’s economy and positioning herself as a major international supply chain partner.
He noted that such ambition was imperative as the world is currently witnessing a supply chain challenge.
Adebayo cited countries like the United States, which is currently under pressure because they are receiving reductive input from china, and Europe also affected negatively by the Russia-Ukraine conflicts.
Speaking on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s economy, Adebayo noted that the crisis showed the importance of having resilient alternatives, and as such, called on Nigerians to step up and become suppliers on the supply chain.
Adebayo expressed his delight that the program was all-inclusive, targeting stakeholders in the export business communities, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), trade associations and the organized private sectors.
He said that practitioners in the non-oil space must adhere to global best practices in promoting and ensuring that quality certification, standardization, and packaging of products are well taken care of before exports.
Adherence to these practices will enable the nation’s product to be accepted without any rejection by the international market.
“In August, the UK launched its new developing countries trading scheme, and adopting that scheme will give preference to Nigeria goods into the UK.
“This will give 99 per cent of the current goods exported amounting to 1.6billion pounds per year will now be eligible for duty-free and quarter-free access in the UK,” he added.