Buhari has identified 13 non-oil revenue sources, says Orya

• NEXIM Bank stops funding of raw agric products’ exportation

WITH the need to diversify the economy due to dwindling revenue from oil, President Muhammadu Buhari administration has identified thirteen (13) alternative products to serve as sources of revenue generation for the country.

Managing Director of Nigeria’s Export and Import (NEXIM) Bank, Mr. Roberts Orya, made this revelation in Makurdi at the weekend while speaking with journalists at the end of a three-day awareness workshop for North Central States on the prospects of diversification to non oil sector economy.

Orya said it had become necessary for Nigeria to source for alternative ways of revenue generation following a progressive fall in the prices of petroleum products at the international oil market.

“Under this arrangement, every state will have a particular product to focus on, but cumulatively, the government has identified 13 products and we are hoping that in the next 2 or 3 years, that will be the focus of the government.”

“Part of the initiative is to ensure that government comes up with a policy of one state-one product, to bring a system where every state will be involved in deepening the non oil sector. This is the area we intend to generate our revenue from, it is not the current situation where, 70 percent of our revenue is coming from oil,” Orya added.

He maintained that Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, can no longer afford to rely so heavily on crude oil, as the mainstay of her economy, hence the need for alternative measures.

The NEXIM Bank boss said as the trade policy bank of Nigerian government, had stopped the practice of financing the exportation of raw agricultural commodities to other nations; positing that such practice does not only encourage capital flight but also has the tendency to reduce jobs creation.

‘’This practice will not create jobs. If you are exporting raw agricultural products, you are invariably exporting jobs and opportunities.”

He explained that the hosting of the Makurdi workshop was part of the aggressive public enlightenment campaigns embarked upon to sensitive members of the investing public within the North Central geopolitical zone and beyond, on the huge potentials of the export industry to encourage investment and entrepreneurship.