FG Launches ‘Export For Survival’ Campaign To Address Dollar Scarcity, Strengthen Naira

The Federal Government in a bid to address the foreign exchange woes facing the country on Monday officially launched the ‘Export4Survival’ Campaign.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo who formally launched the campaign in Abuja described the programme as a game changer in the quest of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to address the foreign exchange challenges facing the country.

The ‘Export4Survival’ campaign is an initiative of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, under the leadership of the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ezra Yakusak to drive the message of economic diversification as a route to achieving sustainable national socio-economic development through the export of non-oil products and services of Nigeria origin to regional and global markets.

The Minister stated that the official launch of the campaign is an official endorsement of the initiative by his ministry to stimulate the consciousness of all Nigerians to the realities that diversification of the productive base of the economy is key to employment generation, wealth creation and poverty reduction in the country.

He said, “The Export4Survival campaign should therefore be embraced by Stakeholders, the Business Community, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Trade Associations, the Organized Private Sector (OPS) etc, as a brand that will be a game changer in the socio-economic space of our national development.

“As part of efforts at creating awareness on non-oil export development and promotion activities of the Council, there is no gainsaying the fact that with the Export4Survival campaign, significant mileage would be gained in the volume and value of exported Nigerian products and services.

“It is also envisaged that with the launch of this campaign, more activities would be seen to be taking place in the non-oil export ecosystem that would increase foreign exchange earnings into Nigeria.”

To sustain the new campaign, the Minister urged practitioners in the non-oil export value chain to adhere to global best practices for their products to receive acceptability with zero export reject and be competitive in the international market.

“It cannot therefore be overemphasized that the success of the Export4Survival campaign needs the buy-in of all players in the non-oil export space.

“I wish to, on behalf of Mr. President congratulate the Nigerian Export Promotion Council for this initiative and the commencement of the maiden edition of the Export Week which is aimed at sensitizing the business community on the inherent benefits in the non-oil export sector of the economy,” he added.

Earlier in his remarks, Yakusak said that the event signalled the beginning of a commitment to reposition the operational activities of the council’s mandate to develop and promote the non-oil export sector.

Describing the non-oil export sector as a key driver of the Federal Government’s diversification agenda, Yakusak advocated concerted efforts to make it a significant contributor to the country’s overall Gross Domestic Product.

“We at the NEPC, believe that our vision to make the world a marketplace for Nigerian non-oil products is very key in rejuvenating our fragile economy.

“However, this cannot be achieved by the council alone. It is against this background that we conceived the Export4Survival campaign as part of a strategic initiative to increase the awareness of opportunities in the sector and the benefits of exporting Nigerian goods and services to the overall growth of the economy.

“I wish to reiterate that the campaign is a patriotic call on all Nigerians to realise the urgency of engaging in non-oil export trade as a viable means of economic growth, industrial development, and boosting our foreign exchange earnings.”

The NEPC Boss said this rebranding exercise is germane to realising the Council’s mandate as a Trade Promotion Organisation (TPO) as well as repositioning the council for better performance.