HOW NIGERIAN RESERVE CAN HIT $150bn-NEPC

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has come out with how you can help Nigerian reserves hit $150bn within 10 years.

It is simpler than you may think: Join in the export of 11 local products the NEPC says can be exported to 22 priority markets outside Nigeria.

According to the NEPC executive director/ chief executive officer, Mr Segun Awolowo, these products are palm oil, cashew, cocoa, soybeans, rubber and rice.

Others are petrochemicals, leather, ginger, cotton and Shea butter.

Aside from these products, also exportable are Information technology skills and garments.

"Our objective" says Awolowo, "is to increase the reserves of the country to $150bn in the next 10 years"

As part of efforts towards this end, different collaborative arrangements have been put in place to formalise export of agricultural commodities to neighbouring countries like Niger, and develop export capacity for garments apart export incentives already in place.

Besides, with the Naira down at the inter bank market, export of any item now has great potentials.

For example, according to the NEPC, by February 11 this year, palm oil went for $540 per metric tonne. Within that range today, the Naira equivalent will be approximately N162,000, that is at about N300 to the Dollar.

Indeed, from the February 11 commodity prices on the NEPC website when Henates visited a while ago, cashew nuts, cashew kernels, black pepper, cocoa beans, Rubber, raw coffee and many of the 107 items listed had good potentials.

Presently apart from the head office in Maitama, Abuja, NEPC has representative offices in 14 locations across the country to help potential exporters cross preliminary hurdles like where to export to, product packaging and preservation requirements in different countries and what is exportable to which country.

The offices are in Apapa, Lagos; Enugu, Akure, Makurdi, Jo's, Minna, Uyo, Owerri, Yola, Benin city, Aba, Gusau ,Kano and Port Harcourt.