It is no more news that the Nigerian Naira has seriously depreciated in the last four years due to continued increase in demand for foreign exchange coupled with a very low level of supply in the market.
This has consequently led to a protracted liquidity squeeze in the foreign exchange market. The Naira has continued to depreciate in recent time despite the strategies being deployed by the monetary authority which is only focusing on attracting foreign direct investment, foreign portfolio investment and remittances into the foreign exchange market? However, this is leaving out the other more sustainable foreign exchange generation options which a country also has control over and these include trade in goods and trade in services.
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While the efforts of the president and his administration in stabilising the foreign exchange market are commendable, it is important to let the government know that incorporating non-oil export growth strategy into its plan is a more strategic and sustainable way of growing the country’s foreign reserves, increasing the value of the Naira and stabilising the foreign exchange market.
To achieve this, the government must put together and implement policies that involve: preparation of small and medium scale enterprises for exportation, aggressive promotion of non-oil export, full automation of the non-exports clearance processes, streamlining the paperwork involved, boosting the purchasing power of exporter, improving the proficiency of current exporters, reducing pricing and cost of exportation, boosting production capacity, protection against export business risks, and getting partners to represent Nigerian exporters in major export markets.
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The policies relating to preparation of the micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) for exportation are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing the number of exporters in the country. This involves helping more businesses become export ready by conducting of export readiness assessments, capacity building in different areas of exportation and export mentoring programmes.
The policies relating to aggressive promotion of non-oil export are aimed at growing non-oil export through the creation of demand for Nigerian products. This involves the creation of awareness about the exportable products of Nigeria in various export markets around the world.
The policies relating to full automation of the non-exports clearance processes are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing the speed of export clearance. This involves the complete elimination of any form of manual processes involved in the workflow of clearance of goods for export at the different airports, seaports and land borders in the country.
The policies relating to the streamlining of the paperwork are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by also increasing the speed of export clearance. This involves reducing the number of agencies and documentation required in the clearance of non-oil exports through the various ports in the country.
The policies relating to boosting the purchasing power of exporters are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing the quantity of goods being purchased and processed by the exporters for shipment to the export markets. This involves the deployment of various trade finance instruments to boost the amount of capital available to businesses that are involved in exportation
The policies relating to improving the proficiency of current exporters are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by improving the export business management skills of current exporters in the country. This involves the deployment of capacity building programmes in export business management to enhance the skills of the members of the management teams of export businesses in the country.
The policies relating to reducing pricing and cost of exportation are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing the demand for Nigerian products in the export market. This involves the provision of various incentives to reduce the cost of exportation and consequently reduce the pricing of Nigerian goods to beat the competition in the export markets.
The policies relating to boosting production capacity are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing the quantity of items produced for export. This involves the provision of different incentives to boost the production capacity of businesses involved in manufacturing various exportable products in the country.
The policies relating to protection against export business risks are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing the risk appetite of Nigerian exporters. This involves making the necessary trade finance instruments and incentives available to exporters to mitigate the risks of exportation.
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The policies relating to getting partners to represent Nigerian exporters in major export markets are aimed at growing non-oil export volume by increasing market access for Nigerian exporters. This involves engaging overseas sales representatives in different export markets with huge demands for Nigerian products, to carry out market research, sales activities, logistics service and debt recovery in these export markets.
The growth of export volume in any nation is largely dependent on what the nation does either knowingly or unknowingly, with all the areas of export policies stated above. The components of all these policies will be discussed in details in subsequent editions of this article. In addition to this, the article has highlighted the recommended policies that Nigerian president through the minister of trade must pursue to grow the non-oil export volume from NigeriaI. I strongly believe that if the policies suggested here can be given consideration with necessary modifications and implementation, they would help the respective government agencies to achieve the objective of growing the non-oil export sector to become a major foreign exchange earner for the country.
Bamidele Ayemibo is chief executive officer at 3TImpex Trade Consulting
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