Nigerian exporters can earn substantial foreign exchange from exporting shoes, bags, belts, plastics and cosmetics to Ghana, Niger Republic, Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic.
Exporters who spoke with BusinessDay said the goods mostly sought after in the West African market were finished, processed or value-added products.
“The advantage in plastics export is that cost of transport to West Africa is often low. So, it is likely that an exporter of plastics will be competitive in the region,” Tunde Oyelola, chairman, Export Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MANEG) said in a telephone interview.
“Our plastic buckets and bathroom slippers are needed in Burkina Faso and its neighbours. We have an opportunity to compete in leather in this market, despite that China is dominating. We have 360 million population, which is a market that is yet to be explored. The British-American Tobacco produces better tobacco products and fares well in this market, which shows we can do more,” Oyelola said.
Ejarkaminor Riicolins Sylvester, president, Socio Cultural Integrations of African Youths Organisation (SCIAYO), based in Ivory Coast, told BusinessDay that most Nigerian commodities were lucrative in the French-speaking West African countries.
“Nigerian products are highly respected in Cote d’Ivoire. I opened a restaurant and served an ambassador a Viju Milk and he said it’s the best in the country. Some of the countries are already imitating Nigerian products,” Sylvester said.
Data from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) show that Ghana is currently Nigeria biggest export destination in West Africa, with total purchases from Africa’s most populous nation estimated at $146.396 million in 2015. This represents 41.73 percent of the value of total exports to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2015, which stood at $292 million.
Data show that Ghana purchased footwear, tobacco, plastics, cosmetics, chemicals, beverages and spirits as well as oil seeds from Nigeria in 2015.
Aggregated data from the MAN Export Group show that Niger, another close neighbour, bought Nigeria’s lime, cement and tobacco worth over $17 million, while Ivory Coast spent much more than $10 million buying Nigeria’s tobacco and cigarettes. Ivory Coast also spent a lot of money buying Nigeria’s chemicals and water purifiers.
The data likewise show that Togo bought leather and shoes worth over $7 million from Aba, Lagos and northern Nigeria. Burkina Faso citizens are equally in need of Nigeria’s footwear, plastics, tobacco and perfumes, the data show. However, the country did not buy lime or cement, cosmetics or edibles from Nigeria within this period.
Despite these opportunities, exporters are currently facing enormous challenges ranging from foreign exchange scarcity to lack of incentives.
Reuters recently reported that over 2,000 Aba shoemakers had shut down, as they could not pay for imported glue or synthetic leather, saying that those who used to buy Aba shoes were now opting for Chinese products.
Nnabugwu Osondu, secretary, Abia State Shoe, Bag, Belt and Trunk Box Association, told BusinessDay before the chronic FX challenge that it was now becoming difficult to get animal skins and good adhesives.
“What we need is competitiveness,” Muda Yusuf, director-general, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). “We need a better business environment that will encourage businesses and exporters to do more,” Yusuf told BusinessDay recently on the phone.
Nigerian exporters say that there is yet no incentive to make them competitive in the regional and global markets.
According to Ede Dafinone, CEO of Sapele Integrated Industries, the continued suspension of the Export Expansion Grant, which is the only incentive for export, was not good for the country.
Dafinone said the uncertainty in the scheme, which has been suspended eight times since 2005 it was started, cannot support the growth of export, noting, “There is evidence that the EEG scheme has raised export six times in fewer than 10 years. So, why suspending it if we want to earn FX from export?”
