Post by Trade facilitator on Nov 26, 2012 18:48:47 GMT 1
The minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said Nigeria needs to capture the West African market and at the same time expressed reservations about the official figure of Nigeria's share of the non-oil export in the sub region.
Aganga, who made this known at the opening ceremony of the third non-oil conference, exhibition, and award at the Shehu Musa 'Yar'adua center in Abuja, said making the ECOWAS the primary market of the Nigerian non-oil exporters will make them better prepared for the competition in the international market.
He said: "On the regional l level where the formal level of trade is supposed to be as low as 11%, we believe we know that 11% is not the right number because Nigeria is supposed to account for 80% of trade in ECOWAS. So part of our job is to make sure that to enhance the formal way of data collation so that we have the right numbers. But more importantly is to make sure that we significantly increase trade with ECOWAS and other African countries. If you go with the official number of 11%, that is very poor compared to the Euro Zone where today it is 60% and plus.
"We believe that making the ECOWAS Nigeria's export catchment area will help to enhance the capacity of our non-oil exporters to more actively and fruitfully participate in the fiercely competitive international market place which is the third pillar of our trade development strategy," he said.
The minister promised to grant loans to some of the companies that came for the exhibition provided they will employ more adding that company registration can now be done within 24 hours at the Corporate Affairs Commission.
He said with the products on display at the exhibition, Nigeria was already on the way to growing its non-oil exports.
The Executive secretary of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, David Adulugba, said Nigeria needs to take advantage of the opportunities in the non-oil export sector before it is too late for it to be able to compete with others in the international market. Hence, he urged stakeholders in the non-oil sectors to move together along the right direction to be able to make inroads in to the international market.
Source: news2.onlinenigeria.com/africa/211130-west-africa-non-oil-market-nigeria-needs-to-capture-the-west-africa-aganga.html
Aganga, who made this known at the opening ceremony of the third non-oil conference, exhibition, and award at the Shehu Musa 'Yar'adua center in Abuja, said making the ECOWAS the primary market of the Nigerian non-oil exporters will make them better prepared for the competition in the international market.
He said: "On the regional l level where the formal level of trade is supposed to be as low as 11%, we believe we know that 11% is not the right number because Nigeria is supposed to account for 80% of trade in ECOWAS. So part of our job is to make sure that to enhance the formal way of data collation so that we have the right numbers. But more importantly is to make sure that we significantly increase trade with ECOWAS and other African countries. If you go with the official number of 11%, that is very poor compared to the Euro Zone where today it is 60% and plus.
"We believe that making the ECOWAS Nigeria's export catchment area will help to enhance the capacity of our non-oil exporters to more actively and fruitfully participate in the fiercely competitive international market place which is the third pillar of our trade development strategy," he said.
The minister promised to grant loans to some of the companies that came for the exhibition provided they will employ more adding that company registration can now be done within 24 hours at the Corporate Affairs Commission.
He said with the products on display at the exhibition, Nigeria was already on the way to growing its non-oil exports.
The Executive secretary of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, David Adulugba, said Nigeria needs to take advantage of the opportunities in the non-oil export sector before it is too late for it to be able to compete with others in the international market. Hence, he urged stakeholders in the non-oil sectors to move together along the right direction to be able to make inroads in to the international market.
Source: news2.onlinenigeria.com/africa/211130-west-africa-non-oil-market-nigeria-needs-to-capture-the-west-africa-aganga.html
