BY JOHNMARK UKOKO
Immediate past Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Chief Executive Officer of Centre for Private Enterprise (CPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, has faulted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its RT 200 initiative aimed at stimulating non-oil export with $200 billion Forex Exchange income in the next three to five years.
He condemned the apex bank for requiring foreign suppliers to register on a CBN portal and operate a pricing system regulated by the bank, saying the new policy was bound to lead to scarcity of goods in the country and trigger inflation.
The Trumpet recalled that the CBN announced new guidelines for international trade in January of 2022 through which it asked importers to submit invoices of all their transactions in place of hard copies they usually submitted before now in soft copies.
The apex bank also requested suppliers to pay $350 annually as subscription fee, adding that its e-invoice, which the commercial banks would authenticate, would be uploaded to the Nigerian Single Window Portal-Trade Monitoring System.
“The most controversial aspect of the policy is the requirement for foreign companies selling to Nigeria importers to directly register in the portal operated by the CBN. They are expected to provide their profiles, financial details, and their pricing, among other requirements,” he said.
Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, who announced the initiative at the end of the Bankers Committee Meeting in Abuja, explained that under the programme, the CBN in collaboration with the Money Deposit Banks (MDBs) would fund the construction of dedicated non-oil export terminals to eliminate the delays currently experience by exporters.
It would also provide loans to companies for value addition and production of finished goods for export at 5 percent for 10 years period with two years of moratorium, other key features of the programme according to Emefiele include non-oil commodities expansion facilities.
The Apex bank also added that there would be Foreign Exchange Rebate scheme and biannual non-oil export summit, adding: “Rather than exporting raw cocoa with minimal export proceeds, CBN would fund companies to produce chocolate in the country.”
The CBN Governor further disclosed that cashew processing currently stood at a mere five percent of the nation’s production, while Sesame seeds processing would be prioritised.
