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| Olusegun Awolowo, CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) |
With
limited markets available for non-essential goods and services as a result of
lockdown in many countries, there are concerns for non-oil exports, especially
for perishable goods. In its impact assessment and policy responses to the
coronavirus pandemic on agricultural exports, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), noted that agricultural
exports, especially cocoa, are predicted to suffer.
Specifically,
the NEPC envisages a fall in exports of over $100 million in the cocoa sector
in Nigeria, as a result of declining prices due to falling demand in Europe. It
therefore asked that the recommendations made by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum
on special clearance for producers, suppliers and distributors of essential
goods and services at the nation’s ports, be extended to exporters of goods who
had secured orders before the pandemic and are seeking to execute them.
As the
world grapples with shortages in food and medical supplies, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and
other development agencies have urged countries to remove red tapes that hinder
the movement of essential goods and services.
The
NEPC reiterated this concern, noting that while many countries are prohibiting
exports of certain food products, Nigeria’s agricultural export sector can ill
afford to do this, as the top three Nigerian agricultural exports in 2018, cocoa, sesame seed, and cashew are produced to cater for
foreign demand.
To
ensure that demands are met, the Chief Executive Officer of the NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, noted that the
Council has succeeded in sustaining exports with the commissioning of a British Airways Cargo through freight
and forwarding company, Free On Board
Global Logistics Limited, for exports to the United Kingdom, European Union
countries and the United States.
According
to him, the initiative, in collaboration with the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and
Agriculture (NACCIMA), and Export
Action Group (NEXAG), is already serving as a relief to exporters pondering
how to convey their products to these destinations.
One of
the logistics firm implementing the agenda, the Chief Executive Officer of FOB
Logistics, Jimmy Adebakin, confirmed
that the company has moved cumulatively in excess of 60 tonnes of Nigerian
non-perishable foods; yam, noodles, garri, fish and vegetables to London.
“And upon arrival in London, we are providing trans-shipment
services across Europe to North America as well, and the interest is growing
every day. Every flight, we are exceeding the performance of previous flight
and we have another flight scheduled for this week and we are hoping that with
the right support and publicity, Nigerians will understand that we can no
longer continue to depend on oil, even as people continue to take the
initiative to get involved in this Nigerian non-oil export drive.
“We have been supported highly by the Nigerian Export Promotion
Council (NEPC), and the Nigeria Export forum (NEF). They’ve supported us and we
are very grateful for that. We see a change in the curve. We see a change in
the attitude and we believe that we need to let Nigerians know that Covid-19
pandemic is here to stay for a long time and the only way we can support
ourselves and the federal government is for us to look inwards as individuals,
corporate entities and as a government to create the enabling environments, not
by lip service anymore.
“COVID-19 has demonstrated to us that the Nigerian government cannot
do everything. It is impossible. This effort has to be private sector driven.
And this is why we have made it a point of duty,” he added.
An
exporter, who has been part of the deal, Bamidele
Ayemibo, commended the initiative, saying that this has been able to help
exporters to do shipment during the period as the economy continues to
experience a slowdown. “I think it is a good
initiative. So instead of not being able to do shipping at all, we have been
able to reduce losses from inactivity”, he added.
On the
challenges of access to global markets, Adebakin on his part stated that: “This is a wake-up call, and we need to give publicity that
we are the new kid on the block, and we are totally committed with our global
network and our cargo services align with offices in over 3,700 cities of the world,
in over 180 countries. They are all supporting our drive to provide not only
customs clearance on arrival of the shipment at the destination; they are
providing warehousing facilities, distribution facility, and they have agreed
to support Nigerian exporters to remit back their money.
“That is another problem that Nigerian exporters are facing, they do
not have representation at the country of designation where they have sent
their goods to. They find themselves in a situation where they have invested
all their money and somebody out there is selling their own”.
Awolowo
had reiterated the need for non-oil exporters to acquire additional
non-mandatory certifications to enable them to compete effectively in the
global markets. According to him, non-mandatory certifications like the ISO, HACCP, and GMP are global certification, trusted by consumers and end-users
of products and services, and are attained, based on the reputation of the
certifying bodies.
He
said: “The impact assessment by NEPC has shown that the
agricultural export sector is at major risk following the covid-19 pandemic.
Nigeria’s biggest non-oil foreign exchange earner, cocoa, is particularly
vulnerable with a dramatic fall in prices." (Guardian)
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