BARBARA BAKO, Abuja.
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has on Thursday has said it’s targeting to grow the country’s non-oil export revenue from $1.2bn in 2016 to $8bn by 2019. The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, said this at the graduation of participants of the zero to export training program held in Abuja.
The zero to export initiative is a program of the NEPC which focuses on creating a new generation of Nigerian exporters through practical and theoretical training of business executives, bankers, civil servants and unemployed graduates among others in export business.
The program is a Public Private Partnership arrangement with support from Deposit Money Banks, the Bank of Industry and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank. According to Awolowo, the country’s inability to transform the economy over the years had led to several economic distortions. He added that the zero oil plan is one of the programs of Federal Government which is aimed at correcting this disequilibrium.
He explained the zero oil plan as one of the practical moves of the Federal Government to realistically diversify the Nigerian economy away from oil. The NEPC boss told the graduands that a committee under the chairmanship of the Governor of Jigawa State, Alh Badaru Abubakar had been set up for the effective implementation of the plan which has been approved by the Federal Executive Council.
He said, “The zero to export program is aimed at achieving specific objectives which include development of new exporters from zero knowledge to a point of export readiness, equipping exporters using practical hand holding approach, field training and mentorship to build a new crop of indigenous exporters.
“The council’s zero oil plan is the flagship program aimed at mobilising public and private resources towards replacing oil as the number one source of foreign exchange “The program equally has a vision of growing non-oil exports from $1.2bn in 2016 to $8bn in 2019 and eventually $25bn by 2025.” Awolowo said the Federal Government was committed to the development of the non-oil export sector as the last defense of the economy.
He was positive that the performance of the graduands in the area of export business would serve as a guide to the council whether to continue with the program or to drop it.
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