Despite efforts made at boosting non-oil earnings, crude contributed N2.42 trillion to the country’s 2.99 trillion Q3 2020 export earnings, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday showed.
With the figure, crude’s share of the total exports was 81 per cent, which is still considered very high, and even higher than the corresponding quarter of last year, when it stood at 70.87 per cent.
Nigeria’s economic fortune is tied to the boom-and-bust cycles of the oil market. As oil demand shrank owing to the impact of COVID-19, Nigeria’s income plummeted, worsening the country’s fiscal position. The crisis has also contracted growth in other sectors, triggering a recession.
Nigeria has remained lax in exploiting its youthful population to grow the non-oil sector for exports. It has not also tapped into the benefits of several programmes like the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) to boost export earnings.
Production of agricultural products has also been largely impacted by the rise in banditry, herders-farmers conflict, flood and poor yield structure of the seeds.
President Muhammadu Buhari, through the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, had at the opening ceremony of the Lagos Trade Fair, said the administration is also currently revamping the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) with a focus on driving backward integration and increasing geometric production of key products such as dairy, palm oil, cotton, textile/garment, sugar, and automobile.
President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mrs Toki Mabogunje however reiterated the need to implement diversification plans.
Reiterating the calls of the organised private sector (OPS), the Chatham House stated that while there has been much focus on reviving agriculture, which is laudable, agrarian practices have radically changed from the 1970s when the sector accounted for 57 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and generated 64.5 per cent of export earnings.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s total foreign trade for the period under review rose by 34.15 per cent to stand at N8.4 trillion compared to N6.24 trillion recorded in the previous quarter, Q2 2020.
Based on the report, total imports rose by 33.77 per cent in Q3 2020 compared to N4.02 trillion recorded in Q2 2020 to stand at N5.38 trillion, and 38.02 per cent increase compared to N3.89 trillion recorded in Q3, 2019.
The increase in the value of imports in Q3, 2020 can be attributed to the increases in the value of mineral fuels (N484.4 billion or 219 per cent), machinery and transport equipment (N314.9billion or 20 per cent) and chemicals and related products (N261.0billion or 34 per cent) as against their respective values in Q2 2020.
Total export (N2.99 trillion) was 34.85 per cent higher in Q3 2020 than N2.22 trillion recorded in Q2 2020, but 43.41 per cent less than in N5.29 trillion recorded in Q3 2019.
Imported Agricultural goods increased in value by 21.13 per cent in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020, and 109.82 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.
The value of Raw material imports increased by 24.47 per cent in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020 and 114.95 per cent compared to the same quarter the previous year. Agricultural goods export dropped in value by 22.6 per cent in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020 but increased by 43.7 per cent year-on-year. The value of raw material goods export recorded a decline of 24.6 per cent in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020 and a decline of 61.9 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2019.
– The Guardian