The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) announced that it is working with the Federal Government to recover payments of N124 billion backlog of claims under the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) scheme.
This was disclosed by the Mr. Lawal Dalhat, the Deputy Director, Incentives, NEPC during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday.
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Mr. Dalhat revealed that EEG claims from non oil exporters between 2007-2016 have already been paid. He disclosed that there still remains backlogs in payments since 2017.
He added that the National Assembly has approved 270 companies for N195 billion in EEG claims, citing that 1,415 were shortlisted and only 308 were qualified.
“The remaining 38 companies out of the 308 companies have N124 billion.
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“We have gotten positive response that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, is actually working to secure approval by Federal Executive Council (FEC) and hopefully move it to National Assembly to settle debts for the remaining companies,” he said.
The Director stated that the review in claims is being monitored under the national debt programme with promissory notes already being issued, with the FEC’s approval to cover debts of 1,415 exporting companies valued at about N350 billion.
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“The National Assembly had its processes along the way, out of the qualified 308 companies, a substantial number of the exporters, more than 270 companies covering a debt of about N195 billion were approved and passed by the assembly,” he said.
“The balance of N124 billion was remaining for 38 companies that were not cleared by the 8th National Assembly as at that time and the 9th assembly came in.
“So, it required that they have to be cleared by the National Assembly and the procedure is that another new submission has to be made by FEC for others to be captured and sent to Debt Management Office (DMO),” he added.
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What you should know
The Export Expansion Grant (EEG) is a post-shipment incentive designed to encourage Nigerian exporters to expand export volume, value, and improve global competitiveness of Nigerian products.
Nigerian exporters can get between 5% to 15% of their annual export value, depending on exporters’ product category, which is usually paid through the instrument known as Export Credit Certificate (ECC). The EEG scheme was established through the Miscellaneous and Export Incentive Act of 1986.
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