We’ll penalise shipping companies exporting undocumented cargoes, says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to penalise shipping companies exporting undocumented cargoes from the country.

Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, spoke at the RT200 Non-Oil Export Summit 2023 on Tuesday in Abuja.

The summit is themed ‘RT200: Challenges and Prospects’.

Emefiele said the development of the non-oil export sector is crucial given that it holds vast potential for generating a significant amount of foreign exchange earnings.

He said the CBN regularly monitors and appeals to exporters to document their exports and repatriate proceeds so they can be utilised optimally for the benefit of the country’s economy.

He, however, said the apex bank was aware that some people try as much as possible to sidetrack the process by attempting to export their cargo without documentation.

“About three years ago, I had a meeting at the Central Bank of Nigeria in Lagos with the shipping lines. I had said the central bank will be beaming some satellites on undocumented exports,” Emefiele said.

“We had advised the shipping lines at that meeting that we will also be monitoring and if we find that they export cargo without documentation that we will penalise them including placing their accounts on post-no-debit (PND).

“We have so far not done anything like that just because we feel that the shipping lines will be responsible to do what is right. But, if we do not see the kind of cooperation that we expect, I’d have to insist that we do what we need to do.”

RT200: NON-OIL EXPORT EARNINGS INCREASED BY 40% IN A YEAR, SAYS EMEFIELE

Speaking on the success of the RT 200, the CBN governor said earnings from non-oil exports increased by 40 percent from $3 billion in 2021 to $5.6 billion at the end of 2022.

The RT200FX programme was introduced to stimulate non-oil exports with a $200 billion FX income target in the next three to five years.

“Today, I am happy to note that the RTX 200 programme has led to tremendous progress in export proceeds repatriation since its establishment in February 2022,” Emefiele said.

“In February of 2022 and March, it was only N62 million. By the second quarter, which was April to June, it had risen to about 600 million. By the third quarter, (July to August or September), it had risen to over 900 million.

“Available data shows that repatriation due to the programme increased by 40% from $3 billion in 2021 to $5.6 billion at the end of 2022.

“The momentum for 2023 is equally issuing strong numbers and impressive prospects. In the first quarter of 2023, a total of $1.7 billion was repatriated to the economy, while about $970 million was sold into the I&E window.”