Nigeria exported a total of 214 products in 2022, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
This was stated at the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) conference on Wednesday in Abuja by the Executive Director of NEPC/CEO, Dr. Ezra Yakusak.
The role of the non-oil sector towards economic diversification and GDP growth is the conference’s central focus.
According to Yakusak, Nigeria shipped that many goods because of value addition and superior packaging.
The CEO of NEPC emphasised the need of effective packaging and value addition for maximising the value of any product.
He claimed that increasing the value of the produce and making sure it was packaged properly would ensure its acceptance on the global market.
Yakusak ascribed the poor value of Nigerian agricultural products on the global market to the fact that they are exported in their unprocessed, unpackaged state, which reduces their ability to command higher prices.
He contends that by increasing the value of their produce, exporters can increase their revenue.
““Nigeria is so blessed, we have so many products in this country that you will be amazed,’’ he said.
Yakusak stated that the volume of products exported in 2022 prompted NEPC to create a programme called “Export 774” with the goal of identifying exportable products in Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
“We just realised that people are not aware of the products we have.
“We informed the world that we exported 214 products in 2022 and people were surprised that we had such products and we exported that much.
“So, because of that at NEPC, the management has agreed to inaugurate a programme called “Export 774’’.
“The Export 774 is targeted at identifying the products in all the 774 local governments of Nigeria.
“We identify them, we identify their potential and of course the specific places where they are cited.
“We will put them in a kind of compendium to compare two of those products before they are exported.
“Export 774 is one of the projects we are going to execute this year,’’ Yakusak said.
Earlier, CICAN Chairman Mr Ifeanyi Onuba expressed the association’s optimism about the growth of Nigeria’s economy through non-oil exports.
According to Onuba, recent developments have demonstrated that, given the volatile nature of crude oil prices, the Federal Government’s drive for economic diversification from the oil to the non-oil sectors is producing the desired results.
