The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, says non-oil exporters repatriated the sum of $4.99 billion into Nigeria in 2022.

Emefiele disclosed this while speaking at the second edition of the RT-200 Bi-annual Export Summit in Lagos on Tuesday.

The CBN boss said the 2022 figure was higher when compared with $3.19 billion repatriated in 2021.

“Of this amount, only $1.97 billion qualified for the rebate programme, while only $1.56 billion was sold at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window or for own use,” he said.

The CBN Governor stated that the apex bank paid out about N81 billion in rebates to Nigerian exporters during the period, noting: “This is a testament to the resolve of the CBN to ensure quick acceleration of the export value chain in the country.

“I know there have been calls to make all exporters eligible for the rebate, not just limit it to finished and semi-finished products.

“While we see some justification for this, one of the goals of the RT200 programme is to help quicken the process of industrialisation and encourage exporters to earn more from their export business.

“Economists have well-documented a positive relationship between export and industrialisation.”

Emefiele said export could transform the economic structure of countries from simple, slow-growing, and low-value activities to more productive activities that enjoy more significant margins driven by technology, adding that all hands should be on deck to help exporters and the economy by adding value to what they produce and export.

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The CBN boss noted that the apex bank is committed to strengthening and expanding foreign exchange supply into the market, saying: “You are all important in this national clarion call to expand the supply of foreign exchange to the country.

“For exporters flying the flag of Nigeria in the international market, the Bankers Committee and the CBN stand ready to partner with you to achieve your goals.

“You can benefit from the many financial programmes introduced by the CBN through your bank to grow your business.

“Therefore, I call on this gathering to candidly interact and make constructive and innovative suggestions for exploring the non-oil export sector as a more sustainable means of increasing financial flows into the economy and generating employment to spur growth.

“This is the time for all of us to work together to reposition Nigeria on a growth trajectory by taking the diversification of the economy seriously.

“There is no time like now to start working in synergy for the good of our nation. We must coordinate and collaborate on policies to improve the economic activities in the non-oil sector,” Emefiele said.

He noted that the country was confronted with many challenges exacerbated by growing internal and external factors, adding that a significant part of these challenges had been the over-dependence on crude oil as a major source of foreign exchange earnings to the economy.

He said the CBN had been implementing several non-conventional, supportive, and complementary macroeconomic policy actions toward restoring the economy to its growth trajectory to address some of the challenges.

“One of the most noble recent ideas was development of a market-based financing mechanism to boost non-oil sector capacity to attract foreign exchange flows.

”Consequently, with the support of the Banker’s Committee in February 2022, the CBN introduced the RT200 programme, which is aimed at raising $200 billion in foreign exchange earnings over the next three to five years, strictly from non-oil exports,” the CBN boss said.

The Star