The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has disclosed that the country exported over 4.146 million metric tonnes of non-oil products amounting to $2.593 billion between January and June 2022.
Executive Director of NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak, said the figure represents a 62.37 per cent increase as against $1.59 billion export figure for the first half year in 2021 and 2020, which stood at $981.442 million.
In spite of the global economic recession that affected most businesses in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector recorded a significant growth in non-oil exports, as a total of 4,146,534 metric tonnes of products worth $2.593 billion dollars were exported between January and June 2021.
These figures were culled from the non-oil export performance reports of various pre-shipment inspection agents who are appointed by the federal government who are appointed by the federal government to determine the volume, value and destination of Nigeria’s non-oil exports.
“An analysis of the returns of pre-shipment inspection agents indicates that the January-June 2022 export performance was the highest half year non-oil export performance since 2018,” Yakusak said, adding that over 200 different products, ranging from manufactured, semi-processed solid minerals to agricultural products were reportedly exported in the period under review.
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He explained that of the top 15 exported products in the first half of 2021, urea and fertiliser recorded 32.49 per cent of the total exports and that cocoa beans, sesame seeds and aluminum contributed 65.7 per cent, while no fewer than 572 companies participated in exporting the products during the period under review.
“This is an indication that Nigeria businesses are gradually embracing NEPC’s diversification campaign by venturing into non-oil exports,” he said.
While explaining that there was no incidence of export rejection, Yakusak said during the period under review, different Nigerian products were exported to about 112 countries of the world.
He lamented that of the top 10 export destinations of Nigerian products, none was an African country and that only Republic of Benin and Niger Republic made it to the top 15 countries to which Nigeria exported its products.
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