Sunday, March 27, 2016
Mexico Set to Export Banana from Cross River
Already, investors from the country said they were ready to start the cultivation of banana on 2000 hectares of land provided for that purpose. Following the development, the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, said his administration would soon become a net exporter of banana.
Ayade, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Ita, expressed delight at the decision of some Mexican farmers to partner the state to establish a huge banana farm in the state.
According to the governor, banana production and export will help his administration to achieve the objective of diversifying and reconstructing the economy of the state.
He said, “This banana farm you are bringing is a thing we are in a hurry to get started. It is a handshake of deep prosperity. While naira is what is required to cultivate banana, it is sold in dollars.
“This partnership will diversify and reconstruct the economy of Cross River State. The state has the largest and best soil among the few states in Nigeria that grow banana.”
Ayade’s trip to Mexico was a follow-up to an earlier visit paid to Calabar by a team of investors led by Mr. Carlos Peniche. Peniche had assured that the partnership would be of tremendous benefit to both parties. He said that the project would start with the cultivation of about 2,000 hectares of land.
http://www.punchng.com/mexico-set-to-export-banana-from-cross-river/
Nigeria has over 5,000 Exportable Products – Expert
He stated this in Lagos during a press conference to announce a one-day workshop on non-oil export.
Boyede said that the country’s quest to diversify its economy could only be achieved if the government would create the enabling environment.
He said, “The 5,000 products I am talking about are not my invention. It is the result of a research carried out by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council about 10 years ago.”
“Under its new zero oil plan, the NEPC had enumerated 21 products, which it believes, if adequately developed and promoted, can immediately replace oil as Nigeria’s leading revenue.”
Boyede, who is also President, Koinonia Global Services Inc, Canada, said Nigeria should be looking at its processed fruits and vegetables, its entertainment industry, the handicraft sector and the manufactured products for the ECOWAS market.
On the workshop, he said, “Our aim is to develop Nigeria’s export industry by helping to prepare desiring entrepreneurs with the requisite knowledge of exporting. We at the KVL see exporting from three sides: the supply side, the finance side and the market side. The March workshop will address all these sides and deliver to participants all they need to know about exporting.”
He said the workshop would have in attendance one of the world’s top consultants on quality issues, Prof Ken Ife, coming to deliver a hands-on guide on international trade compliance issues.
http://www.punchng.com/nigeria-has-over-5000-exportable-products-expert/
N1.16tn Earned From Non-Oil Exports in 2015 – NBS
An analysis of the merchandise trade report for 2015 showed that since the second quarter of the year, the country had been experiencing steady decline in its non-oil exports.
According to the report, the highest non-oil export earnings recorded by the country was N270.45bn in June, followed by N215.48bn and N162.05bn in February and August, respectively.
The sum of N76.23bn was earned in January, while March, April, May and June had N62.03bn, N41.37bn and N55.05bn, respectively.
Further analysis of the report showed that the country earned N97.2bn in July; N49.43bn in September; while October, November and December had N49.59bn, N38.67bn and N46.71bn, respectively.
Some of the exported products, according to the documents, are sesame seed, with a value of N28.46bn; raw cocoa beans estimated at N15.95bn; leather, N9.6bn; and cocoa shells, husks and skins, N5.99bn.
Others are frozen shrimps and prawns, N5.02bn; cigarettes containing tobacco, N3.75bn; cocoa butter, fat and oil, N3.45bn; prepared foodstuff, beverages, spirits and vinegar, N53.8bn; and vegetable products, N36.7bn.
The report stated that Nigeria exported goods mainly to India, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, Ivory Coast, France, Germany, Japan and Indonesia.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, had during a meeting with members of the Organised Private Sector Exporters Association said the Federal Government would address impediments affecting the non-oil export sector of the economy.
The exporters had enumerated some challenges confronting them to include scarcity of foreign exchange and the payment of the backlog of Export Expansion Grants.
The Executive Secretary of the association and leader of the delegation, Jaiyeola Olarenwaju, had told the minister that the challenges facing the sector had led to a drop in Nigerian manufacturing exports.
http://www.punchng.com/n1-16tn-earned-from-non-oil-exports-in-2015-nbs/
Scarcity of Packaging Materials Threatens Non-oil Exports
Non-oil exporters have raised the alarm over scarcity of jute bags used in packaging of cashew nuts and cocoa seeds for export. According to the exporters, over 1.5 million jute bags are required to bag the produce for March 2016 shipping. The President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Dr. Tola Faseru, said, “The bags have implications for quality and reputation. In the past, polypropylene bags were used to package cashew but they spoiled the cashew nuts. “We are hoping that jute bags will be brought in quickly because shipment is supposed to start at the end of March.”
An agribusiness strategist, Mr. Sotonye Anga, said the situation had become an emergency.
He spoke on the sidelines of the OG2 conference on export trade in Lagos, adding that there were no jute bags in the country currently. Faseru said the association had approached the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and obtained promise that something would be done about the situation. Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Segun Awolowo, said the council had contacted the minister on behalf of the exporters and obtained assurance that the issue would be looked into. But Anga told our correspondent that government had yet to come up with a solution to the problem.
According to him, there are fears that people may resort to bagging produce in polypropylene bags, a practice which the cashew association had banned earlier. “People are already considering putting their produce in old jute bags that were used in bagging stock fish. This is not the best practice because stock fish has an odour that can transfer into the produce,” he said. Sotonye said, “Jute bags are crucial packaging materials for cashew and cocoa. The season has started and people are packaging. They need materials for packaging. “The branding of a product starts with the packaging. One must package it right with the proper jute bags. Otherwise, people will begin to buy fourth-hand and fifth-hand jute bags that are already torn and worn out, which can cause materials to fall out.
“Right now, jute bag prices have escalated. Fairly used jute bags that are poor in quality are sold for as high as N400 per bag.”
Sotonye stressed that the government needed to intervene in the issue of packaging materials for the export sector, adding that it was beyond the private sector. He said, “Government should step in. Ivory Coast, this year, provided four million jute bags for their cashew farmers free of charge. If the government intervenes, the matter will be addressed within 30 t0 40 days. The private sector cannot handle it because of high exchange rates. “Ninety-eight per cent of the jute bags that are used in Nigeria are imported from Bangladesh and India and although Nigeria grows cane and fibre which are the raw materials for making jute bags. There is no jute bag manufacturing company in Nigeria.”
He noted that existing bag manufacturers such as Dangote and Bagco only produced polypropylene bags, which could not be used to package cashew and cocoa. Even if they had to start local manufacturing, the time would be too short, he added.
http://www.punchng.com/scarcity-of-packaging-materials-threatens-non-oil-exports/
Saturday, March 26, 2016
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