NEPC Records $4.5b Non-Oil Export Performance In 2023

Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, says that four point five billion dollars Non-oil performance was recorded last year.

The Executive Director, Mrs Nonye Ayeni made this known in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the 2023 Progress Report/Performance of the Non-oil export sector.

Mrs Ayeni said the volume of Nigeria’s non-oil export continues to increase over the years and specifically in 2023, as the Council recorded a volume of 6.685 million metric tonnes of exportable products thus reaffirming the widely held assertion that the non-oil sector holds the key to the revitalization of the country’s economy.

“Two hundred and seventy-three different products were exported in the period under review ranging from manufactured, semi-processed, solid minerals to agricultural commodities and this figure reflects a notable increase of approximately 28.04%, compared to the preceding year” ahe stated.

According to her, top twenty products exported in the year 2023 are Urea, Cocoa Beans, Sesame Seed, Soya Beans/meal, Cashew Nuts/Kernels, Aluminum Ingots, and Hibiscus Flower.

“In November 2023, NEPC signed a MOU with the mexican business council for foreign trade, investment and technology (COMCE) and this is expected to give more traction and increase the volume of volume of hibiscus and other exportable products to Mexico while the top commodities in terms of total exported products were Urea/Fertilizer which accounted for 20.10% while Cocoa Beans came second at 13.19, and Sesame Seeds took the third position at 9.03%” the NEPC Boss explained.

She stressed that out of the top-20 exporting companies in Nigeria, Indorama-Eleme Fertilizer and Chemical Limited took the lead with US$524,327,305.66 in value while Dangote Fertilizer Limited recorded the second-highest value of US$383,071,252.58 while other companies have also made significant contributions in that space.

” Destination of Exported Products in the year 2023, Nigeria’s non-oil products made a significant impact in the global market, penetrating markets across one hundred and twenty-four countries in the following regions, including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Notably, Brazil, China, and Japan emerged as the top three importing countries for non-oil products from Nigeria while export to rhirteen member countries of ECOWAS (excluding Cape Verde), actively engaged in the importation of Nigerian products throughout the year 2023. 1,638,694.46 Metric Tons amounting to US$ 343.942 Million dollars constituted 7.61% of the total export value. Interestingly, only Ghana made it to the top 20 global importers from Nigeria, occupying the 18th position on the export log” Mrs Ayeni emphasized.

She pointed out that NEPC now has a new mantra to drive the core objective and the Council’s mandate ragged ” Operation Double Your Export”.

” Under this mantra, we have come up with some initiatives and programmes to complement the existing ones all geared towards significantly increasing our non-oil exports to improve our foreign exchange earnings and for economic growth and diversification and this also aligns with the Industrial Revitalization Plan of the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite and the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” the NEPC Executive Director added .

By Mathew Ayoola, Edited By Grace Namiji