FG Moves to Clear ₦330bn Export Grant Backlog, Restructure Expansion Scheme

• Ring-fences 40% of export levy for new trade facilitation

James Emejo in Abuja 

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the federal government has begun moves to resolve about ₦330.08 billion in outstanding Export Expansion Grant (EEG) obligations while overhauling the scheme to make future incentives more predictable, transparent and financially sustainable.

She spoke at a stakeholder engagement on the EEG scheme in Abuja, over the weekend.

She said the ministry had been directed to address verified legacy claims and restructure the scheme around a sustainable funding framework.

Oduwole said the outstanding obligations comprised about ₦269.45 billion in verified claims involving 195 beneficiary companies, previously approved under a Promissory Note Programme by the Federal Executive Council in May 2023, alongside approximately ₦60.64 billion in stepped-down claims involving 32 companies for the 2017–2020 period.

She said the government was working with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Office (DMO), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Assembly and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to reconcile and process the obligations.

According to her, settling the backlog was critical not merely because of the financial claims involved but because delays had affected exporters’ liquidity, investment decisions, business planning and ability to expand operations.

Oduwole said the government’s objective was to restore confidence in the export incentive system while ensuring that only claims that had passed the required verification, validation and approval processes were settled.

Beyond the backlog, she said President Bola Tinubu had approved a new funding architecture under which 40 per cent of monthly Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme collections would be ring-fenced for strategic trade-facilitation and export-incentive interventions through a professionally managed Trade Facilitation Fund.

She said the restructured EEG would be designed to reward genuine export performance, encourage domestic value addition and diversify Nigeria’s non-oil export base.

The minister also disclosed that an EEG Restructuring Working Group comprising FMITI, Finance Ministry, CBN, OAGF, DMO, NEPC, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG) and other stakeholders would produce a proposed structure for the reformed scheme within 60 days.

Oduwole said technology would form part of the reform, particularly in strengthening data management, claims verification and transparency, allowing exporters to track their claims and understand outstanding requirements.

She stressed that the ultimate test of the scheme would not be the amount of claims paid but whether public expenditure translated into stronger exporters, increased value addition, jobs and higher foreign-exchange earnings.

Earlier, NEPC Executive Director/Chief Executive, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, said the restructuring came at a critical point in the country’s export drive, noting that the country had recorded what she described as its highest-ever volume and value of non-oil exports, alongside an increase in the number of products and export destinations.

Ayeni attributed the development partly to increased value addition across sectors, including among small and medium-sized enterprises, and urged exporters to sustain the momentum.

She said the outstanding EEG liabilities underscored the need for an incentive framework that was credible, transparent, measurable and responsive to exporters’ realities.

Ayeni said NEPC would work with FMITI, MANEG, beneficiaries and other stakeholders to document concerns and translate the Abuja engagement into concrete recommendations and action points.

She added that the exercise should ultimately produce an export incentive architecture capable of supporting Nigeria’s industrialisation drive, job creation, economic diversification and stronger foreign-exchange earnings.