NEXIM Bank Reiterates Commitment to Reviving Ailing Industries
The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigerian ExportImport Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Abba Bello has said that deliberate steps were being taken to revive ailing industries to enhance their contributions to non-oil exports in the country.
Speaking during a recent tour of some projects in Sharada, Challawa and Bompai Industrial Layouts in Kano State for an on-site assessment of their operations, he said the bank was collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement two intervention schemes aimed at supporting the non-oil export sector, in line with the federal government’s diversification strategy as detailed in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
Bello said for too long, the Nigerian economy had relied almost entirely on a single commodity- crude oil, for its fiscal revenues and foreign exchange supply, which explained the country’s descent into recession following the collapse of crude oil prices in 2015.
Nevertheless, he said the intervention schemes were predicated on the broad philosophy of “Produce, Add Value and Export” (PAVE) policy, which aims to encourage exporters to advance from the export of raw materials to value added exports.
According to him, the funding schemes include the N500 billion Export Stimulation Facility (ESF), which was initially launched in June, 2016, but was repackaged and relaunched in December, 2017 and the N50 billion Export Development Fund, which was newly approved in December, 2017.
The ESF is specifically designed to provide long term concessionary funds to support existing or new export oriented projects, through the provision of term loans at a single digit interest rate, for tenors up to eight years, with moratorium up to two years, or as working capital/ stocking facility, while the EDF had been conceptualised as a regional/state intervention scheme targeted mainly at the Small & Medium Enterprises to accelerate industrialisation, economic diversification and exports.
The MD added that under the EDF scheme, a minimum of N1 billion will be earmarked for each state towards developing one or two identified export products where the state has the highest competitive advantage.