Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The federal government has said it achieved significant revenue of $18 billion from 2015- 2022 from non-oil exports such as Urea Fertilizer, Ginger and Sesame.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Adeniyi Adebayo disclosed this at the 21st edition of President Muhammadu Buhari administration scorecard series (2015-2023) in Abuja.
In his presentation, he said Nigeria recorded a Compound Annual Growth Rate of $3.57 billion in 2022, which was a significant in rise on the $3.45 billion earned in 2021. In 2020 the country earned $2.21 billion while $1.87 billion was earned in 2019.
He described urea fertilizer as the largest non-oil selling point internationally for the country, followed by ginger and sesame, which are in high demand in Europe.
The minister also stressed the need for the country to market more of its products, notably Hibiscus, which used to be very popular in Mexico.
“Nigeria was the largest exporter of Hibiscus to Mexico because they used it in the pharmaceutical sector and for drinking as well. Because we had quality issues and they had to stop importing from Nigeria, which was why we ensured we brought the national quality policy with a view to making sure we improve the quality of goods that we export,” Adebayo said.
He also highlighted the increasing local demand for sugar consumption. He the sector has witnessed significant investments and infrastructural development to boost its country’s sugar refinery capacity to over 3 million mt per annum.
According to him, 150,000 hectres of land was developed while over 19,000 hectres of land was cultivated for sugar cultivation.
He stressed that the federal government was targeting to provide irrigation infrastructure for 10,000 hectres of land for sugar production.
He added the federal government entered into partnership with the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) on setting up agro-processing projects to harness the produces that cannot get to the market.
He said country attracted about $1 billion auto investments to produce 400,000 vehicles while the country also built and developed three solar powered charging stations as well as three testing centres designated for components and emission from vehicles.
Adebayo touted the projected GDP growth of three percent in 2023, third highest in the world as indication the country’s economy in thriving under the Buhari administration.
“We are ahead of UK which is at the bottom of the rung because they are projecting a negative growth for them.
“We are ahead of many countries in Europe, Russia and many developed countries in terms of projected growth. It means that this administration is working in right direction in terms of policy put in place,” Adebayo said.
