ABUJA: Nigeria has recorded a significant rise in its non-oil export, with agricultural goods increasing the country’s foreign exchange earnings. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently reported that Nigeria recorded an export rise of 73.5 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of this year compared to the same quarter last year. Experts have attributed the rise to the diversification efforts of the Federal Government, with particular emphasis on non-oil exports. Speaking on the development, the Executive Director/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Olusegun Awolowo, said he is pleased with the positive trade balance recorded in the second quarter of this year, which is as a result of increase in exports.
Awolowo said cashew nuts alone earned Nigeria N13.5 billion, primarily exported to Vietnam, India and Kazakhstan, while sesame earned N7.02 billion, exported mainly to Japan, India and Turkey. Frozen shrimps and prawns earned over N2.83 billion, exported mainly to Netherlands, Belgium, and USA while flour and meals of soya bean earned N2.31 billion, exported mainly to Spain, Ghana and Senegal. Ginger earned N633 million, exported mainly to Vietnam, Morocco and Sudan while manufactured goods such as cigarettes containing tobacco exported to Ivory Coast, Niger and Ghana contributed significantly to the surplus trade balance. Other manufactured goods that showed good export outing were cement exported to Niger and Chad Republics; cocoa beans and its derivatives to several countries. He said although oil continues to dominate exports with crude accounting for 42.57 per cent and other oil products 21.86 per cent, the future of the economy is beyond oil as clearly laid out in the ‘Zero Oil Agenda’ which is central in the Nigerian Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP).
