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The Federal Government has been urged to provide necessary infrastructure that would facility exports of local produce through the land borders.
The Executive President, West African Association for Cross-Border Trade, in Agro-forestry-pastoral, Fisheries Products and Food (WACTAF), Alhaji Salami Nasiru Alasoadua, who made this call in his presentation, during a meeting with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), said that several border locations in Nigeria are lacking infrastructures such as good roads, standard market, hospitals, pipe borne water and other facilities that could aid cross-border trade.
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Salami also bemoaned the lingering insecurity in border locations, which is jeopardising the lives of traders and ultimately hindering cross-border trade.
He said: “To increase exports, government should give serious attention to the activity of cross-border trade. Export trade is influenced by several factors, including accessibility to the market area in neighboring countries. It is primarily determined by the transportation system, specifically cross-border freight among others.
Salami said that regardless of what a country possesses both human and material resources, it must relate with other countries, as no country will survive in isolation.
According to him: “Cross-border trade occurs due to the availability of sellers and buyers between countries and involves transactions and movements through an inter-country road. Therefore, this trade is influenced by the distance and accessibility to the market areas in neighboring countries since it is carried out across national borders.”
He cited several borders markets in South-West, South-South, North Central and North-East currently booming with trade but required government’s intervention to the required standard for international trade.
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