The Chief Executive Officer of African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA, Ms Comfort Sakoma, has expressed the need for Nigeria to ensure that products made in the country are of high quality and attractively packaged to meet international standard.
Sakoma who made this statement in Lagos at a one day workshop organised by Fidelity bank in conjunction with Nigeria Export Promotion Council, NEPC, the Nigeria-America Chamber of Commerce, NACC, and Nexim bank said that Nigeria has well over 7,000 exportable products. She said though the country is the 38th largest export economy in the world, it has continued to record the highest number of product rejections in the continent’s export profile to developed countries.
For example, she said the number of rejects in major foreign markets between 2012 and 2013 revealed that Benin Republic had two rejects; Ethiopia got three, Zambia recorded five, South Africa had 56, Egypt had 95, while Nigeria recorded 102.
Sakoma noted that exporting is an excellent way to enjoy pure economies of scale with products that are more “global” in scope and have a wider range of acceptance around the world .”The newer the product, the wider range of acceptance in the world, especially to younger “customers,” often referred to as the “global consumer,” she added.
Also speaking the chief executive officer of Fidelity Bank Nnamdi Okonkwo said that the planned diversification of the nation’s economy would only materialise if the Small and medium Enterprises, SMEs, are strengthened to fulfill their role as drivers of the economy.
He said that issues around dearth of infrastructure, security issues and multiple taxation must also be addressed in order to support entrepreneurs and prospective exporters. Speaking further he said “You know there are over 40 million SMEs in Nigeria and SMEs have always been the engine of growth in the emerging economies. We need to encourage the SMEs by getting them right; this is the point in time when we need to get things right economically because Nigeria economy will not survive without the SMEs being at their best.
“You remember very well the case of India and China; the SMEs in those countries are the ones you hear about in other countries. They account for the biggest chunk of employable youths. It is the only way to go because if you don’t support your SMEs, you will not grow your capacity.”
Okonkwo who was represented by Executive Director, Lagos and South West Bank Mrs Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said that various measures being put in place by the government to promote non-oil export and diversify the country’s revenue base was beginning to yield result, saying that with the attention the sector is been given, a notable change would be witnessed in almost, the next 18 months.
He stated that the government is helping them to overcome their funding challenges through the developmental financial institutions it has has set up like Nexim and the Bank of Industry, BoI, which advance loans to them at single digit interest rate.
