Skip to main content

Nigeria ready for AGOA — NEPC

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) on Tuesday said that most Nigerian exporters were fully ready to export to the United States through the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Mr. Babatunde Faleke, Lagos Zonal Coordinator, NEPC, made this known while speaking at the Pre-Exhibition Selection Exercise for Non-Oil Exporters, organized by the council in Lagos.

He said that the exercise was aimed at re-screening exporters of exportable items under the AGOA programme, for the upcoming trade shows in the US.

“The truth is, most of our exporters are ready for exports under the AGOA programme, with all that we have and the market is there waiting for us.

“Most of them have been involved in exporting, but some areas like documentation need to be better settled.

“Here, we have exporters of food items, commodities, finished and unfinished industrial materials like raffia, charcoal whose products are compliant with all the requirements to export to the US.

“The US market is very large, but under the AGOA, we export duty-free, so it’s worth our stress and that’s what we keep doing here to ensure we record successes,” he said.

Faleke also said that there were up to 250 products exportable under AGOA, most of which Nigeria had the highest global production capacity in.

He said that the council had been appealing to the government to revive the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), in order to get more manufacturers into the export net and generate revenue for the country.

He said that in spite of the readiness of non-oil exporters to export more non-oil export products formally, they are unable to meet up with the demands of the buyers, hence the need for grants.

Faleke also said that the council would soon kick-off the Nigerian Diaspora Export Programme (NDEX), which was a major project aimed to establish a ‘Nigerian city’ in most countries of the world.

The AGOA programme is a United States Trade Act, enacted on May 18, 2000, as Public Law 106 of the 200th Congress. AGOA has since been renewed to 2025.

The legislation significantly enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...

Fall of Assad is a Blow to Russia's Prestige

The potential fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-standing ally of Russia, would mark a turning point in Moscow’s global influence, particularly in the Middle East. Steve Rosenberg’s analysis underscores the profound implications for Russia, which has invested heavily—both militarily and politically—in ensuring Assad’s survival over the past decade. This article delves into why Assad’s downfall would strike at the core of Russian prestige and what it could mean for the broader geopolitical landscape. Russia's Strategic Commitment to Syria Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Russia has been a staunch supporter of Assad's regime. In 2015, Moscow launched a military intervention that proved decisive in stabilizing Assad’s hold on power. This intervention solidified Russia's role as a key power broker in the Middle East and demonstrated its willingness to project military power far beyond its borders. Syria is not just an ally for Russia; it is a...