Disruption in the implementation of the Export Expansion Grant pushed down Nigeria’s earning from non-oil export from $3 billion recorded in 2013 to $1.6 billion in 2015.
This was revealed by the Executive Secretary of the Organised Private Exporters Association (OPEXA), Mr. Jaiyeola Olarewaju, in a statement in Abuja recently.
Olarewaju said if the disruption which started since 2013 was not addressed, the earnings will slide further downward before the end of this year.
The association said the non-acceptance of the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC), an instrument through which grant is disbursed, has resulted in the backlog of N123 billion of unutilized NDCC fund.
The association said exporters were paralysed by the backlog and therefore had no option but to scale down exports which bore a stark reflection on the country’s non-oil export performance since 2014.
“Based on the positive government policy on export incentives, the direct employment in the non-oil export sector increased from 105,220 in 2005 to 211,291 in 2010. However due to the disruption in the incentive policy, the employment started to decline in 2011,” the statement said.
