FG inaugurates committee on export grant

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeyi Adebayo, has inaugurated a steering committee for the implementation of the Export Expansion Facility (EEF).

The Minister said if Nigeria failed to grow its non-oil exports, the economy would remain vulnerable to external shocks with attendant ripple effects of devaluation, inflation and unemployment.

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He said, “Export growth is at the centre of our strategy for diversifying Nigeria’s sources of foreign exchange and reducing the vulnerability of the economy to external shocks.

“We have witnessed time and again, the devastating impact that events outside our control can have on our livelihoods due to our reliance on a primary source of foreign exchange,” he said.

The Minister said that the EEF aimed at protecting export businesses from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, safeguarding jobs and de-risk the economy from shocks like COVID.

“Its primary goal is to increase Nigeria’s export capacity in the near term and its export volumes in the medium term,” he said.

Besides, it represented a huge financial commitment from the government and demonstrates President Buhari’s commitment to export diversification.

The committee is headed by the Minister as chairman with Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, a former MD of Fidelity Bank Plc as vice chairman while Dr Ahmed Bashar, the Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment, will serve as secretary.