The Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Mr Ezra Yakusak says the national non-oil export during the first half of 2022, recorded its highest performance with the total value of $2.59 billion, compared with $1.60 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.
Mr Yakusak who said this at the first National Forum of State Committee on Export Promotion in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital, stated that the non-oil export performance of the country has been on onward movement within the last one year, regardless of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy in 2019 and 2020.
He explained that the State Committee on Export Promotion, (SCEP) was statutorily created by virtue of section 8 of the Nigerian Export Council Act as a veritable tool for the promotion and development of grass root non-oil export programmes.
According to him, “the specific role or functions of the SCEP has therefore been outlined as follows; To constitute a forum for the exportation of the principal export products of that State; To advise the NEPC on the best means of achieving the objectives of the NEPC Act and to carry out such other functions as the Council may direct from time to time”.
Mr Yakusak said “through the partnership of NEPC with SCEP, the nation has witnessed a sharp increase in the numbers of NEPC offices from just fifteen in 2016 to thirty four (34) that we have currently. We are strongly hoping that Bayelsa and Yobe States would soon come on board to have full national coverage.”
The NEPC boss noted that the council had developed a grassroot export promotion strategy known as One State One Product (OSOP) Programme to ensure each State of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory focuses on at least one product to develop for export.
“In pursuant of the aggressive economic diversification agenda of the Federal Government, early this year, NEPC launched a national non-oil export stimulation initiative tagged the Export4Survival which was developed to boost foreign exchange earnings through the non-oil export sector,” he said.
“Recently, the Council launched the Export Trade House in Cairo, Egypt and Nairobi in Kenya as well as the first Export Trade House in Lome, Togo, as part of efforts to create sustainable market access for Nigeria’s Products.”
