The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said the country’s economy would do better with a ‘One State, One Product (OSOP),’ initiative, which could bring about the diversification vision of the federal government from oil to non oil sectors.
NEPC’s regional head, Joe Ita, who spoke in Calabar, Tuesday, at a one day South-South stakeholders consultative forum for export clusters said NEPC developed the ‘Zero Oil Plan’ in response to the recession in 2016 following the crash in international crude oil prices.
He said the ‘Zero Oil Plan’ was aimed at preparing Nigeria for a world in which crude oil would become less relevant, adding that the Ministry of Budget and National Planning had integrated the Plan as a core component of the federal government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which he said President Muhammadu Buhari launched in February 2017.
Ita described the ‘Zero Oil Plan’ as “a strategy for boosting foreign exchange through the non-oil sector, mainly through rolling out export policies for 22 major products that could generate up to US$30 billion in foreign exchange a year, cotton, rice, leather, gold, soya, sugar, cocoa, petrochemicals, palm oil, rubber, cement, tomato, banana, oranges, cashew, cassava, sesame, spices.”
The regional coordinator said the OSOP Programme identifies at least one strategic export product for each state, from which Nigeria could earn foreign exchange, and advised that each NEPC regional coordinator should work closely with their state governments to drive OSOP products.
Also speaking, the Chief Promotion Officer (NEPC), Sylvia Onono Adeneye, said her agency was willing and ready at all times to assist state governments in realising its non oil export dreams.
In her remarks, the Cross River state commissioner for commence, Mrs Rosemary Archibong, appealed to the federal government to support the state’s drive in its industrialisation efforts.
“I can tell you that the governor’s vision in developing a cargo Airport, deep-sea port, the 275km super highway is all aimed at export and that is basically what the Ayade’s administration is doing.
“We need the federal government’s support because the state is ready for export business and we commend the NEPC because they are committed in driving exports. We are very ready for export and as a State, we have challenges in assessing funding, including bottlenecks by the relevant agencies of the federal government,” she stated.
