ABUJA - The Federal Government said yesterday that non-oil exports recorded unprecedented growth of 60 per cent in the last quarter of 2008, mostly in agricultural products.
The acting Executive Director of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Aliyu Lawal, announced this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Lawal said that in spite of all the odds, non-oil exports rose from 40 per cent in the first quarter to 60 per cent.
He noted that the odds included lack of electricity power and transportation that added to the cost of doing business in the country.
According to him, the performing sectors are finished leather products, cocoa and its products, sesame seeds and manufactured products such as cosmetics and toiletries.
“This year, we also made a shipment of garment to the U.S. for the first time under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). All these added to the high level of non-exports recorded, he said.
He said that the feat was achieved because of the efforts of the Council to enlighten and inculcate the culture of formal exports into exporters.
“We have been holding enlightenment and training programmes for exporters to keep them up-to-date and abreast of current developments and requirements in the international market, he said.
Lawal noted that although agriculture took the major part of the export, the best performers in the export market were high technology and skill-intensive products and services.
“The era of national economic dependence on raw commodity export is over. The need to shift resources and energy into value addition cannot be over-emphasised.
“There is no doubt that opportunities abound for Nigerian products and services in the international market,” he said.
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