Post by Trade Coach on Apr 23, 2022 5:23:23 GMT 1
AfCFTA: FGN To Accelerate Competitiveness Of Nigerian Exportable Brands In African Market – How Effective Had CBN’s Interventions In Agriculture Been?
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has disclosed that it will increase efforts to accelerate competiveness of Nigerian exportable brands in the AfCFTA.
This information was disclosed by the Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr. Ezra Yakusak, in Owerri early this year, during a meeting organized in partnership with Export Expansion Facility Programme.
The event was themed, “Role of AfCFTA in the growth and development of Intra-African trade”, as the NEPC also stated that Nigeria is the single largest market in Africa.
The NEPC stated that it would ensure that Nigerian exporters were adequately prepared for business through partnerships with relevant development partners, local and international. He stated that Nigerian exporters must be ready for global standards which would give exports an edge in the AfCFTA.
“It is apt to mention that hard work, credibility and transparency are the hallmark of the export business, hence the NEPC’s commitment to public enlightenment for improved marketability of our exportable brands.
“We shall continuously sustain increased effort to accelerate competiveness of Nigerian exportable brands in the AfCFTA market,” he said.
The coordinator, Imo Exporters Group, His Royal Highness, Eze George Eke, said that arrangements were in top gear to have the state’s export brands such as palm oil, ginger, turmeric, and others in the US market, and urged the Federal Government to speed up development of the Onne export corridor in Rivers State to boost export of South Eastern brands.
On manufacturing in Nigeria, the NEPC said that the implementation of the AfCFTA will serve as a catalyst for industrialization and development of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
The NEPC Director, Export Trade, Mr. Sidi-Aliyu Abdulahhi disclosed this at an AfCFTA sensitization seminar organized by the National Action Committee of the implementation of the agreement.
Mr. Abdulahhi said that the AfCFTA is the largest free trade since WTO (in terms of countries participating), and will cover a market of 1.3 billion customers will be beneficial to the Nigerian producers.
The trade agreements will promote infrastructural development for easy transportation of goods and services across the continent.
The liberalization of trade in Africa will strengthen Nigerian SMEs for regional trade and be a catalyst for extending operations outside Africa.
“The AfCFTA will promote diversification of the economy from extractive products like oil and minerals to non-oil products that were previously underutilized, “Abdulahhi stated.
He disclosed that AfCFTA stakeholders are currently working to develop a digital framework to support e-commerce platform to enable member nations to trade safely in any situation.
On the issue of how effective past CBN’s interventions in the agricultural sector had been, had it achieved its aims? Let us analyze the situation so far.
CBN noted that N927.94 billion had been disbursed so far to over 4.5 million smallholder farmers.
Based on information in the public domain, the Nigerian Agribusiness Group (NABG) has appealed to the Federal Government to relocate the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture from the CBN.
Chairman, Administrative Board of the Group, Kabir Ibrahim, explained that while the initiative had been helpful, there are gaps that have been left behind unfulfilled. He faulted the credibility of the beneficiaries of the programme; he alleged that a large percentage of farmers are not benefiting from the programme.
The CBN in partnership with the presidency has launched various programmes to boost agriculture in the country.
One of it is the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), launched in November, 2015; this was to create a linkage between Anchor Companies that specialize in processing agricultural commodities and smallholder farmers in the country.
This led to the disbursement of loans for farm inputs to many smallholder farmers through financial institutions such as DMBs, DFIs, and MFBs within the country.
Despite these initiatives and many others by the CBN and the presidency, the agricultural sector appears to have seen no real growth.
Since the inception of the ABP in 2015, the agricultural sector has only grown by 2.9% between 2015 and 2021 which is lower compared to the prior years (2010-2014) and ten years (2005-2014) when the sector grew by an average of 4.5% and 5.7% respectively.
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has disclosed that it will increase efforts to accelerate competiveness of Nigerian exportable brands in the AfCFTA.
This information was disclosed by the Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr. Ezra Yakusak, in Owerri early this year, during a meeting organized in partnership with Export Expansion Facility Programme.
The event was themed, “Role of AfCFTA in the growth and development of Intra-African trade”, as the NEPC also stated that Nigeria is the single largest market in Africa.
The NEPC stated that it would ensure that Nigerian exporters were adequately prepared for business through partnerships with relevant development partners, local and international. He stated that Nigerian exporters must be ready for global standards which would give exports an edge in the AfCFTA.
“It is apt to mention that hard work, credibility and transparency are the hallmark of the export business, hence the NEPC’s commitment to public enlightenment for improved marketability of our exportable brands.
“We shall continuously sustain increased effort to accelerate competiveness of Nigerian exportable brands in the AfCFTA market,” he said.
The coordinator, Imo Exporters Group, His Royal Highness, Eze George Eke, said that arrangements were in top gear to have the state’s export brands such as palm oil, ginger, turmeric, and others in the US market, and urged the Federal Government to speed up development of the Onne export corridor in Rivers State to boost export of South Eastern brands.
On manufacturing in Nigeria, the NEPC said that the implementation of the AfCFTA will serve as a catalyst for industrialization and development of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
The NEPC Director, Export Trade, Mr. Sidi-Aliyu Abdulahhi disclosed this at an AfCFTA sensitization seminar organized by the National Action Committee of the implementation of the agreement.
Mr. Abdulahhi said that the AfCFTA is the largest free trade since WTO (in terms of countries participating), and will cover a market of 1.3 billion customers will be beneficial to the Nigerian producers.
The trade agreements will promote infrastructural development for easy transportation of goods and services across the continent.
The liberalization of trade in Africa will strengthen Nigerian SMEs for regional trade and be a catalyst for extending operations outside Africa.
“The AfCFTA will promote diversification of the economy from extractive products like oil and minerals to non-oil products that were previously underutilized, “Abdulahhi stated.
He disclosed that AfCFTA stakeholders are currently working to develop a digital framework to support e-commerce platform to enable member nations to trade safely in any situation.
On the issue of how effective past CBN’s interventions in the agricultural sector had been, had it achieved its aims? Let us analyze the situation so far.
CBN noted that N927.94 billion had been disbursed so far to over 4.5 million smallholder farmers.
Based on information in the public domain, the Nigerian Agribusiness Group (NABG) has appealed to the Federal Government to relocate the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture from the CBN.
Chairman, Administrative Board of the Group, Kabir Ibrahim, explained that while the initiative had been helpful, there are gaps that have been left behind unfulfilled. He faulted the credibility of the beneficiaries of the programme; he alleged that a large percentage of farmers are not benefiting from the programme.
The CBN in partnership with the presidency has launched various programmes to boost agriculture in the country.
One of it is the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), launched in November, 2015; this was to create a linkage between Anchor Companies that specialize in processing agricultural commodities and smallholder farmers in the country.
This led to the disbursement of loans for farm inputs to many smallholder farmers through financial institutions such as DMBs, DFIs, and MFBs within the country.
Despite these initiatives and many others by the CBN and the presidency, the agricultural sector appears to have seen no real growth.
Since the inception of the ABP in 2015, the agricultural sector has only grown by 2.9% between 2015 and 2021 which is lower compared to the prior years (2010-2014) and ten years (2005-2014) when the sector grew by an average of 4.5% and 5.7% respectively.
