Business News
How Nigerian exporters will benefit from NEXIM Bank’s disbursed $1 billion
Nigerian exporters would be among other exporters in West Africa that will benefit from Nigerian Export-Import Bank’s $1 billion trade facilitation pact.
Nigerian exporters would be among other exporters in West Africa that will benefit from Nigerian Export-Import Bank’s $1 billion trade facilitation pact. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during the inaugural Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt.
How the fund will be utilised
In a statement made available to newsmen, NEXIM Bank made known that the MoU would be implemented under the Nigeria-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme to support trade and investment flow between Nigeria and other African countries.
Under the agreement, AFREXIM will provide $1 billion Line of Credit, which will be disbursed by NEXIM to qualifying beneficiary projects and transactions in support of intra-African trade and investments.
According to the MoU, the fund is available to support the growth of trade between Nigeria and other African countries with special emphasis on value addition, particularly in primary goods and commodities. The statement said the $1 billion would assist in enhancing local earnings and job creation.
The fund is also available to support capital and investment flows as well as projects being sponsored by Nigerians in other countries.
While speaking during the signing, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of NEXIM, Abba Bello, said the deal would go a long way in boosting access of Nigerian exporters to investment capital and investment guarantee instruments, including the Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He said through the pact, the bank would be able to promote intra-African trade and increasing the volume of formal trade.
In implementing this programme, Bello also highlighted that the NEXIM bank would be working with all stakeholders, including exporters, investment partners as well as other financial institutions, both domestic and foreign to realise the NATIPP programme objectives.
About NEXIM
NEXIM is an export credit agency in Nigeria. The bank was established by Act 38 of 1991 as an Export Credit Agency (ECA) with a share capital of ₦50,000,000,000 (Fifty Billion Naira) held equally by the Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
NEXIM Bank replaced the Nigerian Export Credit Guarantee & Insurance Corporation earlier set up under Act 15 of 1988. The agency provides export credit guarantees and export credit insurance for exports of Nigerian commodities and services within and outside West Africa.
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Business News
Cost of building materials rise by over 60% in one year
The price of building materials in the market experienced a rise of over 60% in the last one year.
The cost of Cement, Steel, Tiles and Plaster of Paris (PoP) cement, among others have risen by over 60% between March 2020 and March 2021.
For instance, the cost of steel, which was sold at N234,000 per tonne as of March 2020, had increased to N380,000 at the end of March 2021. This represents a 62% increase within the period under review.
While Dangote Cement increased from N2,600 to N3,800 (though it is sold at N3,600 in some areas in Lagos), Lafarge Cement and BUA Cement increased from N2,400 and N2,250 to N3,600 and N3,250 respectively within the same period.
The price hikes are not limited to the cost of steel and cement alone but also to other materials like Tiles, PoP cement, and roofing sheets.
The cost of super white cement increased from N2,500 (25kg) to N3,700, and the cost of high-quality white cement (40kg) also increased from N4,000 to N6,500.
The cost of gravel increased from N80,000 to N140,000; that of 8mm diameter and 25mm diameter (imported) increased from N234,000 and N245,000 to N330,000 and N380,000 respectively.
Doors are not left out in the hike. Costs of Flush door (high quality), Panel door and Turkish steel door (1,500 x 2,100) also rose from N35,000, N40,000, N165,000 to N60,000, N75,000 and N235,000 respectively.
Why the hike?
Industry experts have attributed the hike to persistent depreciation of the naira and the rising cost of other building materials.
Tunde Oluwole, a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Builders, explained that the development was caused by high interest rate, inflation, increasing exchange rate and scarcity of forex in the country.
He said, “The increasing prices in Nigeria is a result of the combined effects of high-interest rates, devaluation of the naira, inflation, and non-effective distribution network of the materials.”
To Kolawole Adebisi, an Estate Developer, the development in the cement industry is caused by the ban of imported cement in the country.
He told Nairametrics that he is not against the ban, as the government’s intention is to boost local production of cement but explained that “the local manufacturers were unable to produce enough cement to meet the demand and this contributed to the rising cost of the product.”
