Non-oil export ‘grew by 16 per cent’ in 2013, says NEPC

Nigeria’s bid to diversify from oil to other sectors of the economy appears to be yielding fruits, as non-oil exports increased by 15.9 per cent from $2.561 in 2012 to $2.970 billion the following year.

According to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), revenues from the Nigerian non-oil sector are gradually catching up with those from the upstream and downstream sector of the economy.

However, NEPC CEO, Olusegun Awolowo, at a conference orgainsed by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) said Nigeria is yet to fully utilise its abundant natural resources, as development of the non-oil sector continues to face challenges such as energy, finance, skills, capacity and poor infrastructure.

Other challenges include infrastructural deficiency, poor standardisation of products, high cost of production, falsification of documents, weak linkages to chain supply, unwholesome trade practices, and exports dominated by primary products, inability to meet export orders as well as restricted access to credit and trademark; he said.

To improve, Awolowo said Nigerian goods for export must meet global competitiveness standards.

“The government must also ease the processes of doing business in the country,” he added.