Nigerian Exporters Await National Assembly’s Approval Of N1trn EEG Fund

By Paul Mbagwu

Nigerian exporters are earnestly expecting the endorsement of the National Assembly for an outstanding payment in lieu of export of Nigerian products valued at over a trillion naira.

The value covers exported items for the years 2016-2017, under the Federal Government’s Export Expansion Grant (EEG), and acts as a reimbursement for expenses taking Nigerian products to the international market.

The debt has been a source of concern for the exporters primarily and other real sector operators, because it has meant reduced business activities for them, and less income for Nigeria.

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr Segun Awolowo had said that payment was expected to commence as soon as the National Assembly reconvened and gave its approval, and this is where the hopes of exporters had been pinned.

Some of them told our journalists on the sidelines of a recent forum in Lagos, that the Presidency deserved commendation for the resuscitation of the scheme praying the National Assembly to complement the gesture by promptly appending its signature.

One of such people was Mrs  Mojisola Adenekan, who said she had been involved in the export business for a while and that the importance of government backing could not be overemphasized.

She gave example with what happens in other countries whereby the government makes provision for key areas of the economy in the form of subsidy or rebates.

“Sometimes, the only reason Nigerian exporters cannot compete effectively like their counterparts are because of the subvention they enjoy. You see a similar thing in the products that come into the country. Usually they come at cheaper rates because the manufacturers have enjoyed a level of subsidy back home”.

For Adenekan therefore, government at all levels should see the exportation business as a something to be effectively harnessed.

She said many of them had been waiting on the release of the said money as last hope given the level of commitments they had already entered, some with banks.

Ïf as an exporter you want to succeed, you must have sufficient funds. This is because you need to spend your money first. And that is what many of us have already done and that is why we are now hoping on quick reimbursement of what we had already incurred”.

Her arguments are reinforced by an official of Sagenta Nigeria Enterprises, Mr Godwin Odhiare, not only applauded the government for providing the life line in terms of the payment proposal, but added however that exporters would only heave a sigh of relieve when they eventually get paid the money.

He said the initiative stands a change of radically transforming the economy, as according to him, Exportation is the way to go in the future“.

According to him, “we do encounter our colleagues from other countries at forums, and you would be surprised the kind of incentives they enjoy. So if our country is not doing enough in terms of exportation, perhaps, the issue of incentives to exporters has to be taken truly seriously”.

“Many of us are willing and ready to expand our operations, add more value to Nigerian exports but it is something that you require capital for. For example, so much has been expended in previous transactions, and it is difficult to think of expansion, when you have not got returns from those previous transactions”, he said.

It would be recalled the members of the Nigerian Organized Private Sector (OPS) have been in the forefront of the agitation for the improvement of the Nigerian business sector, which includes the availability of incentives for entrepreneurs of different classes.

These were the points that the Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Export Group, Chief Ede Dafinone, equally underscored in his reaction to the issue of payment of EEG claims.

Not only did he appreciate the Federal Government for reviving the EEG, he particularly commended the expansion of the use of the Export Credit Certificate ( ECC).

 In his words, “As a result of this expansion, our members will be able to transfer the ECC to a third party and use it to settle all Federal Government  taxes as well as purchase of government bonds and settlement of credit facilities by development banks and liabilities of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria.

  “Also, since the collection of the unutilized Negotiable Duty Certificates by the Federal Government, no payment has been made which put our members in a difficult position with their banks. I hope government will commence full payment of the new EEG soon,” he stated.

Dafinone admitted that 2017 was tough for members of the group due to shortage of foreign exchange, high cost of energy and funds, multiple levies and taxes, smuggling that unleashed untold constraints on  manufacturing operations.

For Mr Olajide Ayomide, “ Apart from that, they are wealth creators too. They produce, pay tax locally, and also pay tax internationally. They bring a lot of ideas from what is happening internationally. In fact, they are doing a great job and government needs to back them up”, he said.