The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Ezra Yakusak

Nigeria has recorded a significant improvement in it’s non-oil exports for the first quarter of 2023 which stands at N617 billion ($1.34bn), an 8.5 percentage increase from the same period in 2022, which stood at $1.249 billion.

Executive Director of the NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak stated this yesterday in Abuja while presenting the quarterly scorecard of the performance of Non-oil export

Yakusak said a total of 167 products were exported in their semi-finished state or finished form which is a clear departure from the traditional export of raw agricultural commodities the nation was known for.

“A total number of 167 products were exported in the 1st quarter of 2023. These products range from manufactured, semi-processed, solid minerals and raw agricultural commodities. Of the top-ten products exported in the first quarter of 2023, urea, cocoa beans, sesame seed, soya beans/meal and cashew nuts/kernels were top five.

“Also, among the top ten export companies, Indorama-Eleme Fertilizer and Chemical Limited took the lead with 13.39% (US$182.804 million) in terms of value while Dangote Fertilizer Limited recorded the second-highest value of US$144, 089, 083.49 respectively just as 16 exit points used within the period under review,”

“Similarly, Ninety-Seven Countries, spread among five continents of the world, imported Nigerian products during the period under review. The top five countries that imported from Nigeria are Brazil, China, Japan, India and Netherlands,” he said.

The Executive Director, NEPC expressed his dissatisfaction on the poor performance of African countries in the 1st quarter report. He expressed hope that the trajectory will change when the continents trade agreement is implemented.

“Regrettably, no African country made the top 10 non-oil export destination. We believe that the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will change this Trade trajectory” he said.

The council further said it is will soon launch its sensitisation programme tagged – “Export 774’’ which hope towards identifying exportable products in the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, and create awareness where they can be sourced for export.

The NEPC Boss expressed optimism in the several interventions that are ongoing, saying it envisage to rake in over N5bn for the year 2023.