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V . ngu.rd, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011
BUS.! NESS /EXPORT
FGpays N45bn EEG claims in Q2 2011 BY DAN I ELGUMM
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H E Nigerian Export P romotion Council (NEPC) bas said that not le:s than N45 billion has been approved by theFederalGovemmEntin theSECOod quarterof2011 under the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) to be paid out tobmefiriarycnmpanies, even as it explained that Ule scheme was desia ned to induce performance of non-oil eq>arters in the country. Executh-e Director and Chief Executive Office!; NEPC, Mr. DavidAdulugba. also noted that during the year under review, the EEGimplBDentalioncommittee md three tilDes and approveddaims tobeneficiary companies in the countJy as follows: Man::h 10, 20 11 NI3,788,377,674.37 was approved; March 30, 20 11 - N 13, 12lJ,ID4,731.36 was
approved; and May 11, 2011 NI7,880,708,943.21 was approved. Speaking during the NEPC 20 11 media briefing wiUl theOrganised Private Sector (OPS), in Lagos, Adulugba said the Negotiable Duty Certificates (NOCCs), which is the means by which exporters are rewarded under the EE_G scheme, had been- . disbursed to beneficiarycompanies, except a few that are yet to come forwan!. He said the attraction of EEGwas a motivating lac-
torthalboosts export trade in the country. emphasising that available evidence from inspection of facilities ofEEGbenefiriarycompanies showed that many of them utilised their daims to procure more machinery to expand their production base for more e:xport business, thereby
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T O RM S and droughts Ulat have unleas h eq d a ngerous surges in food prices CDuld bea"grimilreta,1e"ofwbat lies ahead when climate change bites moredeep\y, Oxfam has said. In a report issued at Ule start of UN d.i.Jnate talks, the Britishcharity pointed to spikes in wheat. (Dm nnd so rgbum p rices , triggered by extreme weathet thai had driven tens of millions into pov~ tyoverlhepast 18 mooU:tS. This will only get worse as climate change gathers pace and agriculture [eels the heat,' said Oxfam's KeI.lyDenl In 2010, a hcatwave in Russia and Ukraine sparked a rise of 60 to 80 per cent in international wheat prices l>fctweenJuly
and September. By April 2011 , w heat prices were as perc ent highe r on international markets than the year before. Oxfam said. lnJuly2011, Ule price of sorghum was 393 percent higher in Somalia. while com (maize) in Etltiopia and Kenya was up to 191 and 161 per cent higheJ; respectively compared with tbefive-year average, reflecting the impact of drought in the Hom of Africa Rainstorms and typhoons in Southeast Asia, meanwhile, have driven up the price of rice in Thailand and Vietnam. In September and OctobeJ; the cost of tlris staple was 25-30 percent higher there than a year earlier.
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rOPS), in Lagos. generating more employment According to him, "Ex· porters now have more confidence in the ~t311 as transparency has remained Ule watchword, then the time-lag for processing of claims has narrowed down except in recent times when institu-
tional interruptions has crept into the scheme's operations." He added that the scheme was aimed at assisting exporters to expand their volume and value of non-oil exports, diversify export markets and to make them more competitive in the global mM....
Oxfam
And a major drought in Afghanistan helped push up wheat and wheat nour prices there to 79 per cent higher tlris July than the previous year. In February, the World Bankestimated that 44 million people in developing economies had fallen into extreme poverty as a result of spiralling food prices. In theNovemberissueof its "Food Price Watch" report. the Bank said that a global index of food prices peaked in February but had dipped by five pert:ent sincetlten. Even so, the index was still 19 percenl bigherthan in Septembe r 2010, although the figme varied greatly according to the country and the commodity, it said. •
He. howevet; explained that to be eligible. an exporter must have exported manufactured, semi-manufactured, semi-processed orprimill)' products, pointing out that the export proceeds must be repatriated into a domiciliary account in Nigeria and confirmed by theCenU-al BankofNigeria (CBN) . Adulugba said that fol lowing complaints received by the EEG lmple-
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SEMINAR - From right; Area OJnlroJJer (South) NEPC. Afr. Matthew A!Ib0f1U:1' A fr. fIIorio IcJUmaru, J ap anese expert, k fr. Taku Iliroki, uade Com-
mIssioner,. JETRO, Ms Kazumj YiWJiUlJolo, J ETRO, Tok yo and Afr. A,[ ichaeJ Anusa, General klana!lt!I; JETRO lagos al a one day seminar in lagos_
mentation Committee from exporters and members of the OPS on the current EEG Product Categorisation, the coundl organised an interactive forum with a view to reviewing the current EEG product categorisation, to properly situate export products in the scheme. He said during the year under review, the EEG Directorate called for tile submission of 2009 baseline datafor2010 EEG ratings maintain that about 163 companies have submitted their baseline data, while 150 had alreadybeen rated for2010daims ; noling that the remaining 13 companies areye!. to be rated as a result of the inconsistencies in their submissions. He slated that Ule dIallenges faced by the
scheme include inconsistent government policies, frustration from some stakeholders and inadequate funding of the EEEG secreta..rial "As part of the Directorate effort towards ensuring prompt and u-ansparent service delivery, the EEG processing software will be regularly updated to ac· commodate all eligible exporters especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the objective to continuallyboost non-oil from Nigeria," he said. He said the EEG Directorate represented the council on the Inter-Ministerial Commillee set up by the Minister of 1tade and Investment to review the current EEG Scheme.
NEPC in collaboration to build capacity IGERIAN Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said that in responseto global concerns, the council is determined to collaborate with relevant trade promotion organisations, training institutes and certification agencies such as JErn.O in building the capacity, competence and capability of exporters in developing products tlmt conform to global specifications for accessing global markel NEPC b oss, David Adulugba dropped thehint recenUy at tile NEPC CoIlaborative training seminar with the Japanese Extertal 1tade Organisation (JETTRO) at a seminar on Exporting totoJapan: Spices
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B RlEFlNG - From Jell: AJhaji S abo BelJo, NEPC H ead q uarters, Ahuja; O lunba Tun de Oyelo/a and David A duJugba. NEPCCEO, during th e NEPC 201 J m edia briefing ll'i ih th e Org anised Priva te Sec/or
Climate set to worsen food crisis -
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THE ORGANIZED PRIVATE SECTOR,RRIYANT GOVElNMENT~ n 'E PRESS 8. ALL STAKEHOLDERS
in Lagos. The NEPC boss said, "I sincerely b elieve that the expertiseskills and knowi· edge gained from today's seminar will enhance export competitiveness of Nt-
gerian food related products, help in empowering our teeming unemployed youths through skills a cquisition, increase wealth and job creation in linewith the 1lansfonnation Agenda of the present administJation" Hesaid, Nigeria is amajar producer of spices such as chilies, black pepper; garlic, ginget; etc which have recorded a substantial increase in global markeL However; the world in recent time has seengrowing awareness and critical concern about health and envirorunental issues that impact and dictate exporters' ability to gain sus tainable market access. In this context, exporters must come to terms with issues that bother on adoption of Hi-fuh in food (Spice) Processing, technology and p rocess up gradation. setting up in-house quality control laboratory and quality certification. Providing assistance for these
components therefore are veryvital towards empowering exporters to adopt good agrirultural practices that will help N igeria acquire distinct image as an Mlnternational processing hub" for quality spices and food products."
Eartier in his welcome address, Area Controller (South) NEPC, Mr. Mattheo.v Agbogun noted that quality has become a prerequisite for successful market access. He advised N igerian exporters, who \-vished to export to Japan to try meeting tedmical requirements in the international marketplace has also posed to be a challenge for many exporters. According to rrc research, "approximately 70"k of the problems faced by exporters due to non-lari1f measures are in the area o[lechnical barriers touade (TB1) and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS).