One way to grow the economy is to make it export-driven so it could become resilient to the vagaries of oil prices, the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, has said.
He spoke during the Nigeria Initiative Economic Development luncheon in Abuja. He said services were already driving the economy, an indication that the country is already on the path of diversification.
“The current development in the country will force Nigeria to shift its focus to non-oil exports as was the case in the 1960s. Nigeria is also facing challenges in the decline in non-oil export as reflected in the drop of income from $2.7billion in 2014 to $1.6billion in 2015.
“While non-oil products are still exported to key destinations around the world, the immediate priority is to concentrate on new export products where Nigerians can earn between 40 and 50 per cent of what it earns from oil in the past.
“Nigeria top oil products include cocoa and cocoa product preparation which enjoy a 36 per cent increase from $556.8 million in 2012 to $758.6 million in 2013 but a slight decrease of 12 per cent in 2014. Sesame seeds and cashew nuts also performed well with 35 per cent and 25 per cent increase in 2013 and 13 and nine per cent in 2014.
“NEPC’s vision is to replace oil as the major national foreign exchange earner by growing non-oil exports to $30billion in the next 10 years and eventually reach 20 per cent of non–oil export to gross domestic (GDP) or approximately $100 billion yearly based on its zero oil plan.
“At present, the trade in indigenous products and services is conducted by large numbers of desperate SMEs operating on their own as exporters and importers.”
He said though there is no sufficient statistics on the details of the trade, he said there is reason to believe that the trade is not well organised, a situation that does not augur well for growth and sustainability.
Awolowo said in foreign countries where the Federal Government has diplomatic missions, it is estimated that Nigeria residents in theses countries total over 15million.
According to the World Bank, Nigerians living abroad remitted over $20.77 billion 2015. Many Nigerians living abroad have excelled in their various fields and professions.