Exporter urges Nigerian Govt to initiate single digit interest rate policies for non-oil export businesses

Mrs Adaku Chidume-Okoro, an exporter, appealed to the Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja to implement policies supporting single digit interest rates for non-oil export enterprises.

The Group Managing Director of Gum Arabic Company Nigeria (GACON), Chidume-Okoro, told newsmen that increasing exports and successfully diversifying Nigeria’s economy was critical.

Access to capital, high interest rates, infrastructural issues, timing, and meteorological circumstances are among the key challenges affecting export, according to the exporter.

In her words, “So, all these put together, we look at funding or financing for export business at single digit interest rate.

“Funds at 20 or 30 per cent interest rate can’t definitely support or help non-oil export business.

“This is why a lot of bankers shy away from financing non-oil export business because they see it as a very high risky venture.’’

Chidume-Okoro also encouraged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide grants to SMEs without collateral and to reduce the emphasis on finished items for non-oil exports.

According to her, the CBN should categorize products appropriately in the RT 200 to avoid cutting off SMEs in the process.

The CBN RT200 is a new incentive grant designed to help non-oil exporters by encouraging them to repatriate their money into the country and receiving a percentage of the money as a reward.