31 December 2016, Kaduna — The Regional Coordinator, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, North West, Abdullahi K. Mamman, has said the N550 billion export fund provided by the federal government to boost businesses in the country is lying dormant.
Speaking at a seminar organised to enlighten exporters in Kaduna yesterday, the regional coordinator said the major challenge facing the export business was how to service the orders received.
He said the federal government has approved N500 billion excess simulation facility in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be administered by NEXIM and N50 billion export refinancing and discounting facility making N550 billion for them to access.
He said, “Since we are not a financial institution, we do not know much of the nitty-gritty of these things and that is why we invited the custodian of the fund as well as the administrator to sit with the exporters to tell them what to do; teacher them how to do it, and they too will explain their problem so that we can share experiences and move this council forward.
“We are really trying and I think we are getting somewhere. You know just a few months back we had a serious problem on product rejection from Europe and we have overcome it, with only one product that is under restriction. That is beans, that is the way forward. The other ones you can now export them.”
*Maryam Ahmadu-Suka And Abdulkadir Shehu – Daily Trust