ABUJA: Nigeria earned a total of $730m (N143bn) from its non-oil exports in the fourth quarter of 2015, which shows a drop of 39.1 per cent or $460m (N90.6bn) from $1.19bn (N234.43bn) recorded in the third quarter of the year, figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria have indicated.
The apex bank in its economic report for 2015, a copy of which was obtained in Abuja on Friday, stated that the $730m non-oil export earnings, when compared to the amount earned in the corresponding quarter of 2014, represented a decline of 27.4 per cent. The report attributed the decline in earnings from the non-oil sector to a significant drop in receipts from manufactured and agricultural export products.
A breakdown by sectors showed that proceeds from minerals, industrial sector, agricultural products, manufactured products and food products sub-sectors stood at $212.85m, $191.6m, $143.85m, $106.56m and $77.59m, respectively.
The CBN report showed that the percentage share of minerals, industrial sector, agricultural products, manufactured products and food products in the total non-oil export proceeds as 29.1 per cent, 26.2 per cent, 19.6 per cent, 14.5 per cent and 10.6 per cent, respectively.
It said, “Total non-oil export earnings, at $0.73bn decreased by 39.1 and 27.4 per cent, below the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2014, respectively. “The development, relative to the preceding quarter, was attributed mainly to the significant decline in receipts from manufactured and agricultural export products.”
Commenting on the drop in non-oil export earnings, financial experts said there was a need for the Federal Government to come up with a well articulated industrial strategy that would assist in addressing the structural challenges affecting the sector.
For instance, a former Managing Director, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Rislanudeeen Muhammed, said that while all structures needed by the government in providing incentives for manufacturing were already in place, there was a need for cohesion of policies to achieve the needed impact.
Muhammed, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Safmur Investments Limited, said, “There is no way that you can grow an economy particularly the non-oil sector without a well articulated development strategy. As a nation, we have the capacity to produce everything. Do we produce? The answer is no. Can we produce? The answer is yes. But can we do it immediately? The answer is no. Can we strategically put in place a structure that will enable us to be self-sufficient in everything? The answer is yes.
“This is the best time that we need to look at ourselves and come up with a synchronised and excellent structure that can facilitate cohesion of policy among the Federal Ministry of Finance, National Planning, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Debt Management Office and Office of the Economic Adviser to the President.”
