The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that its RT200 policy has started yielding positive results as more commodities is now included in the country’s export ledger boosting the potential of raising up to $200 billion in foreign exchange earnings from non-oil proceeds.
Disclosing this in Lagos over the weekend at the Finance Correspondent Association of Nigeria (FICAN) workshop, Principal Manager Trade and Exchange Department, CBN, Anne Nnenna Ezekannagha said that there is significant shift in the repatriation of export proceeds into the country since the introduction of the scheme.
She said “RT200 is an initiative that was launched by the CBN and is currently, anchored on our rebate scheme. So, the idea is that we want to encourage exporters to repatriate their funds. A lot of exporters do not repatriate their funds and the RT200 is set to encourage the repatriation of non-oil proceeds.”
According to her “We have seen a significant improvement not just in the figures that are being repatriated, but also in the number of exporters that are willing to come to the formal sector. Because a lot of our export has been happening informally, but with this scheme, we have found that a lot more players in the export sector are willing to come to the formal sector.
“So, we are also noticing not just the increase in the figures but also in the increase of the commodities that we are exporting that was reported earlier. Like the solid minerals, we are seeing more in the solid minerals and we are seeing more players in that sector, coming into the formal sector to report their exports and participate in the RT200.”
The apex bank stated that the scheme which incentivises export earnings has seen a record entry of players in the solid mineral space.
On his part, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Deputy Managing Director, Muyiwa Akinyemi said that 200 exporters accounted for 95 per cent of the $4.2 billion Nigeria earned from non-oil export in 2021.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria recorded a total of $4.2 billion last year from informal exports largely in wholesale trading in some sectors such as information technology, entertainment and solid minerals.
