Home Cargo Foreign exchange: How Nigeria Export Products can increase Earnings…Experts

Foreign exchange: How Nigeria Export Products can increase Earnings…Experts

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The Non-oil products have huge potential to generate foreign exchange for Nigeria’s economy especially now that forex is scarce.

The export of Nigeria products is seen to take over from oil as the number money spinning sector in a few years to come if properly harnessed.

As airline operators are seeking forex for aircraft maintenance and the day to day running of their businesses, foreign airlines calling for their trapped funds in dollars and business owners seeking forex for trading, especially import, if the volume of exports of Nigeria products are encouraged, this might just be another avenue to addressing the paucity of foreign exchange in the country.

This was the submission by stakeholders at the just concluded conference tagged CHINET ’23 Aviacargo Conference with the theme: ‘Unlocking the Logistics Barrier to Improve Agro Products Exports’ in Lagos.

Statistics presented by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, revealed that the country’s non-oil products, in volume and value terms exported in the first half of 2023, stood at 3,944,344.17 metric tonnes and $2.539 million which unfortunately, showed a slight decrease of 0.09% against the recorded figure of US$ 2.593 billion for the first-half of the year 2022.

However, there are problems to tackle in achieving increased exports geared towards not only earning foreign exchange but also creating jobs in the system and this is why the organizer of  CHINET Ambassador Ikechi Uko brought together recently, the eggheads in the exports value chain to interact, dissect these problems and proffer solutions.

Setting the tone for the discuss in his opening remarks, Ambassador Uko said, Nigeria export goods get rejected either due to poor packaging, non-certification by the appropriate agencies, poor handling of product to maintain product integrity amongst others, there is need to bring all stakeholders to a roundtable and proffer ways of tackling these problems headon.

He emphasized that, “nobody is a subject matter expert on every aspect of aviacargo, a lot of people pretend to be experts, I listen to them and I learn from them but from my own experience I found out that, you are an expert in your own little area and there are people who are expert in their own area and we all need to work together to build this community”.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Unlocking the Logistics Barrier to Improve Agro Products Exports’, John Ekeanya said logistics today in Nigeria is bedevilled with a lot of hindrances namely, insecurity, storage facilities particularly for agro products, pharmaceutical products and perishables and the government not supporting or making available loans for investors in that direction.

“You need to acquire trucks, logistics is about transport, you need to have trucks, warehouses, trained personnel, those who package the things for export. In the whole of this country, you have only Lagos and Abuja that is actually effective”.

Mr. Anny Chigbo of Airstream is of the view that, exporters who are looking to improve their logistics efficiency should consider developing relationships with local logistics providers. 

According to him, these providers have extensive knowledge of the local transportation infrastructure, customs regulations, and other logistical considerations that can impact the movement of goods. 

“By partnering with these providers, exporters can gain access to their networks and expertise, which can help to streamline transportation processes and reduce costs”.

Amongst other suggestions made include that, Local logistics providers can also provide valuable support in areas such as warehousing, freight
forwarding, and customs clearance. 

“They may be able to offer specialized services such as temperature-controlled storage or oversized cargo handling that could be difficult for exporters to
manage on their own”.

“Exporters should conduct regular risk assessments of their supply chain to identify potential vulnerabilities and develop contingency plans. These assessments can help exporters to
proactively address potential disruptions in the supply chain, such as natural disasters, political unrest, or economic instability”.

Clear communication was also emphasized as essential to ensuring timely delivery of cargo products. 

“Exporters should establish clear communication channels with customers and partners throughout the supply chain to facilitate efficient coordination and minimize delays”.

On the rejection of Nigeria agro products exports abroad, the Nigeria  Agricultural Quarantine Services, NAQS, Dr. Ubiogoro Oniovosa Favour, highlighting what the service had done in the area of export of agro produce to ensure they meet the requirements of other countries is through implementation of stringent quarantine measures, through carrying out inspections, sampling and testing of agro products.

She stressed that, this is crucial as many countries have strict phytosanitary  regulations in place to prevent the spread of pests and diseases.

“Without NAQS, Nigerian exporters would face considerable challenges in complying with these regulations and accessing international markets”.

Dr. Ubiogoro noted that, despite these efforts, local barriers persist like lack of cooperation from exporters, farmers, clearing agents and other government agencies.

Other problems highlighted include, consolidated cargo issues, facility for preservation, cold rooms, warehouses and aggregation points, logistics and mind reset (integrity and sincerity in operations a missing factor.

Another regulatory agency, the Standards Organization of Nigeria, SON, also re-emphasized poor Agricultural practices and inappropriate application of farm inputs, storage, handling of crops amongst others.

Mr. Moshood Adebayo Shittu, Coordinator, Lagos State Office ll, SON, delivering a paper entitled: ‘Standards Requirements of Agricultural Commodities’ said, Commodities like, Rice, maize sorghum, sesame seed, cashew, Shea nut etc are rejected because of excessive application of pesticides, sometimes standards not available for Agricultural produce and products not meeting the requirement of standards.

What can be done to reduce to the barest this rejection? Mr. Shittu noted that, consumer concerns in food safety and threat of contaminants.

“Good sanitary and Phyto-sanitary standards, knowledge about/use of standards and codes of practice, exposure to GMP, GAP and current beat practices and availability of more accredited laboratories”.

The National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control, NAFDAC, says, export rejection and it impact is painful and unfortunate.

Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Director, Export Division, Ports Inspection Directorate said, this development has led to low foreign exchange for exporters.

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