Market News

By Damilola Aina

The Federal Government has commenced fresh efforts to resolve outstanding claims under the Export Expansion Grant scheme amounting to N330bn and establish a sustainable framework for supporting Nigerian exporters.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council is coordinating the process with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group and other stakeholders, following a directive by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole.

The NEPC Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nonye Ayeni, disclosed this on Thursday at a stakeholder engagement on the EEG scheme held at the council’s headquarters in Abuja.

Ayeni said the meeting was convened to address outstanding liabilities, examine the challenges affecting the scheme and develop practical recommendations for its restructuring. She said the government’s renewed focus on non-oil exports made it necessary to restore confidence in the incentive framework.

In her welcome remarks, Ayeni said, “The EEG has historically served as an important instrument for supporting Nigerian exporters and enhancing the competitiveness of our non-oil exports. At a time when the Federal Government is placing renewed emphasis on export growth, diversification of the economy and increased foreign exchange earnings, it is imperative that our export incentive framework remains credible, transparent, sustainable and responsive to the needs of exporters.”

The NEPC boss said the government recognised outstanding claims requiring attention but stressed that payments must follow verification and approval procedures.

She said, “Today’s engagement therefore comes at an important moment. We recognise that there are outstanding liabilities and claims requiring attention, and we also recognise the need to establish a framework that will provide greater clarity, efficiency and confidence for exporters going forward.”

The PUNCH gathered that the outstanding obligations include previously approved claims under the Promissory Note mechanism, verified claims covering 2017–2020 and 2021–2022, and relevant stepped-down claims subject to verification and approvals.

Ayeni said the government’s objective was to settle legitimate obligations while ensuring that claims paid from public funds had passed the required processes.

“In May 2023, the Federal Executive Council approved a Promissory Note Programme covering approximately N269.45bn in verified EEG claims for 195 beneficiary companies. Outstanding stepped-down claims for 32 companies in the 2017–2020 period were put at about N60.64bn, bringing the combined figure to approximately N330.08bn,” she noted.

The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment is coordinating with the NEPC, Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Office, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria, National Assembly and other institutions to reconcile and progress the obligations.

Ayeni said the restructuring must also address the funding of the scheme. She said, “A critical part of this reform is the funding architecture. Mr. President has approved the establishment of a professionally managed Trade Facilitation Fund, with 40 per cent of monthly Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme collections ring-fenced to support strategic trade-facilitation and export-incentive interventions.”

She added that the funding arrangement would create a clearer relationship between available resources, verified export performance and the government’s commitment to exporters.

The NEPC boss said Nigeria had recorded growth in the volume and value of non-oil exports, the number of products exported and the destinations reached. She urged exporters to continue increasing value addition, saying the development would support industrialisation, job creation and poverty reduction.

The EEG is a post-shipment incentive established under the Export (Incentives and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap E19. It is designed to improve the competitiveness of Nigerian products and expand the volume and value of non-oil exports.

The scheme provides eligible exporters with Export Credit Certificates, which can be used for certain Federal Government tax obligations and other approved liabilities. Its eligibility framework considers factors including local value addition, local content, employment and export growth.

The Federal Government approved N308.45bn in promissory notes for 199 exporting companies in March 2023, covering several categories of outstanding EEG claims.

Ayeni said the stakeholder engagement would provide an opportunity to agree on practical recommendations and establish clear action points for a stronger export incentive framework.