Non-oil Exports: NEPC Targets ICT, Entertainment, Four Others

• Non-oil Exports: NEPC Targets ICT, Entertainment, Four Others

In a bid to diversify the nation’s revenue from oil, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council has identified six priority service sectors for export to other countries.

According to the Assistant Director, Product Development Department, NEPC, Mr. Arnold Jackson, the government is looking towards the Information and Communication Technology, education, financial services and entertainment services sectors to diversify the economy.

He said other emerging sectors such as logistics and tourism had also been discovered as having huge potential for earning foreign exchange for Nigeria.

These six sectors, according to him, have been pencilled down from 13 major non-oil services, which also have 64 subsectors.

Jackson said the council had examined all the 13 major services and developed a strategy to harness the benefits, in partnership with the Commonwealth.

“We are looking at services export holistically. In services export, there are 13 major services and 64 subsectors. But we look at the areas where we have comparative advantage, which are Information Communication and Technology, education, financial services and entertainment,” said the NEPC assistant director.

“We’ll also look at the emerging sectors such as the logistics and tourism. We are trying to streamline the sector to concentrate on the important ones, so that when we finish, we can have a clearer picture and take on other sectors. We have identified those four priority sectors and those two emerging sectors.”

Jackson added that outsourcing of services to other countries, which was a critical area for economic diversification could be achieved using four modes adapted from the World Trade Organisation, which were cross-border, commercial presence, consumption abroad and movement by natural persons.

It was reported that the NEPC had planned to grow the non-oil segment of the economy to about $8bn in 2019 and $25bn in 2025, with a long-term projection of generating $100bn in the next 12 to 15 years.

Also, states government had been reportedly asked to develop at least one key exportable product based on the comparative advantage.

The export council in July had unveiled plans to boost operations of the services sector in order to improve the Gross Domestic Product of the country.

During the unveiling, the Chief Executive Officer, NEPC, Segun Awolowo, had said trade in services was emerging as an important driver of economic growth globally through the provision of employment opportunities, wealth and foreign exchange.

As part of the economic recovery plan, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, recently said the government would grow the non-oil export to increase supply of foreign exchange.

She believed it would be achieved by “building on the comparative and competitive advantage of the depreciation of naira following the flexible exchange by promoting non-oil exports (agriculture and agro-allied products, solid minerals, manufactured goods, services such as Nollywood and Nigerian music) to increase forex supply and shore up the exchange rate.”