NACCIMA wants govt to revisit single window payment system for trade facilitation

Urges govt to ratify, domesticate AfCFTA Seeks downward review of MPR to attract FDIs
Worried by the nation’s neglect of the African Alliance for e-Commerce and Single Window Payment System, despite being a part of the system since 2012, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has urged the Federal Government to re-visit the scheme for trade facilitation.

Besides, the chamber also called on the government to ratify and domesticate the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement before addressing concerns arising from the pact.

According to the chamber, you cannot condemn an agreement without being an active player in the scheme of events.

NACCIMA also called on managers of the nation’s economy to review the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent downwards to attract the needed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) necessary for economic growth.

According to the chamber, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) decision to retain the MPR and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 14 and 22.5 per cent is not ideal to attract the private sector investments.

The National President, NACCIMA, Iyalode Alaba Lawson during a press briefing to review the state of the nation’s economy said, “The private sector is advocating a review of the policy to encourage the sector and more investments.”

Citing the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data, she said Nigeria’s economy grew by 1.95 per cent in Q1 2018, an increase she said could be traced to increase in global oil prices and the output from the oil sector.

She said the nation’s non-oil sector contracted from 92.65 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 90.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.

She noted that the decrease shows that there is a lot of work to be done to increase the output from the non-oil sector.

“We need to pay more attention to this sector in view of the non-reliability of oil prices which more often than not is also subject to vagaries of the international political environment,” she said.

She pointed out that inflation continues to be in the double digits, stressing that despite the consecutive decline with a positive growth on the economy, inflation rate still remains high while calling for steps to redress the imbalance.

On his part, the Director-General, Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni noted that though the nation has made some progress in the last three years, there is a need to focus on the mining sector and other non-oil sector for improved earnings.

The NACCIMA President added that the nation’s foreign exchange reserve dropped for the first time in eight months during the early part of May 2018, but however stated that it increased to $47.75 billion as at 21st May 2018.

In her words, “This is a good indication because it will lead to more liquidity in the foreign exchange market and help to stabilise the naira.”

She charged the federal government on more favourable and stable policies to encourage more domestic investments by the private sector especially the non-oil exports in line with the commitment to diversify the economy, improve revenue generation and contributions to the nation’s external reserves.