The Central Bank of Nigeria’s new RT200 FX Programme to attract $200 billion in FX repatriation would need additional policy improvement with export infrastructure, financing for exporters and others to achieve the desired result.
This was disclosed by Dr Chinyere Almona, Director-General of the Lagos Commerce Chamber, LCCI, in a statement on Tuesday.
She added that the CBN also needs to educate the public, especially potential exporters on the benefit of the scheme so as to enhance the participation of the business community.
What the LCCI boss is saying about CBN’s RT200 FX Programme
Praising the scheme, Almona stated that a major challenge in Nigeria’s export chain is the unstructured procedures that cause delays, corruption, and rejection of exports. She said the scheme required critical export infrastructure, international trade diplomacy, and adequate funding to succeed.
“These facilities should be well directed to process targeted products in which Nigeria has some comparative advantage such as sesame, cashew, cocoa into finished goods.
“The reason for the low FX revenue from exports is due to the export of primary unprocessed commodities.
“Nigeria must take bold steps to establish a trading system that supports the seamless flow of trade.
“It must establish the necessary infrastructure, create needed awareness toward exploring the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” she said.
She however warned that the CBN must be cautious with intervening in so many sectors of the economy, highlighting disruptions to the value chain. She praised the apex bank’s targeted credit facility, which has already supported Nigerian agiruclture with over N2 trillion.
“There are many credit facilities extended to farmers and manufacturers that may suffer non-repayment due to the high cost of production.
“Beyond the loans to support value addition to our exports, there is an urgent need to improve the export infrastructure at our ports,” she said.
She urged that the FG needs to create more digital platforms to reduce the human interface for exports and formulate the right policies, citing that the FG should also accelerate the plan to build domestic export warehouses by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
“The concern of the Chamber is that without infrastructure, the grants may end up as lost ventures.
“There should be deeper stakeholder consultation and collaboration with the organised private sector in the implementation of this programme,” she said.
What you should know about RT200 FX Programme
Recall Nairametrics reported last week that the Central bank of Nigeria officially announced the launch of the RT200 FX Programme in a bid to get $200 billion in FX repatriation.
The RT200 Programme will have the following five (5) key anchors:
- Value-Adding Exports Facility,
- Non-Oil Commodities Expansion Facility,
- Non-Oil FX Rebate Scheme,
- Dedicated Non-Oil Export Terminal
- Biannual Non-Oil Export Summit
CBN Governor, Emefiele said, “The RT200 FX Programme is a set of policies, plans and programmes for non-oil exports that will enable us attain our lofty yet attainable goal of US$200 billion in FX repatriation, exclusively from non-oil exports, over the next 3-5 years.”
