Nigeria is the Leading Beneficiary of Export Liberalisation

17 December 2016 By Emeka Anaeto

The Chairman of the Export Promotion Group at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN-EG is of the opinion that with the right policies Nigeria can navigate her way out of recession in 2017, exploring non-oil export and the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, ETLS.

The right and most suitable way out of the economic recession currently ravaging the Nigerian economy is formulation and implementation of economic policies that will strengthen the manufacturing sector and attract foreign investors both as Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI). I take this position because, the manufacturing sector is critical to every economy across the globe and Nigeria’s case is no different. Policy decisions of successive governments have contributed to the challenges confronting the sector today. A good number of manufacturers have closed shop across the country while some especially the SMEs that are still in operation are retrenching workers, leading to increase in the number of the unemployed. Unfortunately, we have found ourselves in an economic situation where monetary policy and fiscal policy are not convergent.

A spectacular lesson of globalization is that local markets no matter how large are no longer a guaranteed platform to promote industrial productivity. That is why countries like China and India have incorporated export trade into their respective foreign policy as a way to strengthen their position in international trade. Thus, the manufacturing sector which is strategic and instrumental to revamping the economy wants the government to revive the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) which actually is the only incentive that has served as a catalyst to boost on non-oil export in Nigeria. All over the world, even in developed countries where there are no infrastructural deficiencies like we have in Nigeria, government give incentives to their manufacturers. For instance, Australia, India, China, Singapore, Uganda and so on, are actively involved in boosting their non-oil export sector through various kinds of incentives.

In year 2015 alone, the Chinese government paid a total of 656.5 billion yuan ($102.7 billion) in export tax rebates in the first six months, up 12.4 percent from 2014. The Federal Government introduced the EEG scheme to encourage non-oil exports as an alternative source of revenue to reduce our economy’s dependency on petroleum and related products. The scheme came into effect under the Export (Incentives and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap 118 of 1986 (as amended by the Act No. 65 of 1992). The policy which is domiciled in Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) recorded huge success with the volume of non-oil exports rising from USD700 million in 2005 to USD 2.9 billion in 2013 with export of key commodities to ECOWAS and the European Union. The sector witnessed a sharp decline from US$2.9billion in 2013 to US$1.1billion in 2015 which is about 59 percent decrease. As at the end of the third quarter of 2016, the value of non–oil export had decreased to USD192,804,298. The trend in decline which began in 2014 was due, largely to government’s interruptions in the implementation of the EEG and non-acceptance of the NDCC by the Nigeria Custom Service. From the foregoing statistics, it is obvious that there is positive correlation between the scheme and non-oil export growth in Nigeria.

According to Adolf Onwuka Nnanyel, a distinguished bilingual business development expert for sales across West and Central African countries, the sector has made significant contributions to the purchase and consumption of made in Nigeria products across west and Central Africa as well as to employment generation. Research has it that from 2005 to 2013 job creation rose from 105,220 in 2005 to 211,291 by 2010 as published by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). It began to experience a sharp decline from 2011 to 183,823 and 159,926 largely due to interruption of the EEG. Also, the non-oil sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been significant. Non-oil export grew by 8.80 percent at the end of fourth quarter 2012 it however went down to 7.88 percent by end of fourth quarter 2013.

Weak policy implementation on the part of government! The decrease in non-oil export can be attributed to, for instance the frequent disruptions of non-oil export driver in Nigeria which is the EEG. The scheme has been interrupted 10 times for different reasons and since January 2014 till date has been on hold. Interestingly, government has promised to revive the EEG early next year, 2017 and if they keep to it, the economy is going to witness a reverse trend of this current fall in non-oil export. By the third quarter, economic recession would become history in Nigeria.

In ECOWAS, Nigeria still play significant role in intra-regional trade among other member-states. The trade value of trade between Nigeria and other ECOWAS Countries in 2013 increased by the following percentages over 2012. Trade with Ghana increased by 24 percent, Cote d’Ivoire 23 percent, Benin Republic 25 percent, Burkina Faso 293 percent, Guinea 124 percent, Senegal percent, and Liberia 26 percent. As at the end of third quarter 2016, non-oil exports to ECOWAS countries stood at USD 55.6 million with Ghana as the major export destination according to the report filed by pre-shipment agents representing 26 percent of the total value of non-oil exports within the third quarter. Even at that, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group (MANEG) is making frantic efforts to increase the volume of intra-regional Trade through the Trade House platform and plans are already underway awaiting support from government.

The ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) is a giant stride taken by ECOWAS to promote intra-regional trade among its members towards the creation of a common market. The ECOWAS Revised Treaty, include the abolition of customs duties levied on imports and exports and other non-tariff barriers among Member States in order to establish a Free Trade Area in the Community. Like the other regional trade integrated area all over the world, ETLS is the foremost Trade Facilitation scheme put forward by ECOWAS in the Community. Accordingly, it was first implemented in 1979 with agricultural products, handicraft and crude products being allowed to benefit from the scheme until 1990 when it was expanded to include industrial products. Since then Nigerian companies that applied have been admitted into the scheme. Nigeria being the largest economy in the ECOWAS sub-region benefits more from ETLS till date. This is because the ETLS makes made-in-Nigeria products competitive in the ECOWAS market amidst goods from Asian and Europe. Under this scheme, company’s product registered into the ETLS in Nigeria can be exported to any ECOWAS member countries with zero duty. In the same vein, products registered into the ETLS by companies resident in any of the ECOWAS member countries can export to Nigeria with zero duty with same right of access to the market provided it is not among the products on the exempted list.

The practice is the same in all ECOWAS countries. The Enterprise completes the ETLS Applications Form electronically with details of production cost and raw materials utilized. The applications are submitted to the schedule Desk in the ministry in charge of ETLS in that country. The National Approvals Committee (NAC) in the country where the application is made meets to consider the applications from the Enterprise like in Nigeria it meets every quarter. Thereafter it proceeds for factory inspection to confirm if the information claimed in the application forms is true or false. On return from factory inspection, the forms confirmed as true are sent to ECOWAS Commission for verification. When the Commission has verified and certified the Forms okay, they will send to the Ministry for onward issuance of Certificate.

Aggressive sensitization exercise to enlighten the business public about the scheme and the need to register their products into the ETLS. Nigeria should collaborate with ECOWAS Commission as the largest economy in the sub-region to ensure full implementation of ETLS in other ECOWAS countries in order to ensure that the envisaged benefits of the scheme are fully converted to the advantage of the country.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/nigeria-leading-beneficiary-export-liberalisation-tunde-oyelola/

This program used to be the best thing that ever happened to large scale manufacturing in Nigeria. I wonder why the Federal Government suspended it in 2013.

With the way the USD is skyrocketing, this ought to be the way to go for SME's and manufacturers.

This is why any where you go to in west Africa you will surely see Nigerian products. Gone are the days when Nigerian products were perceived as substandard. Now they compete with the very best.

Those days only big companies in Nigeria benefited from Exportation, but now the cake has trickled down to even the smallest manufacturer or SME.

Now that the dollar has stabilized, is the Nigerian government doing anything to revive this program ? Anybody ?