Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Zenith Bank GMD seeks post Covid-19 non-oil exports expansion

&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Ebenezer Onyeagwu&comma; the Group Chief Executive of Zenith Bank&comma; has called for a concerted effort towards diversifying the country’s export base through the promotion of non-oil exports&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"> He made the call during a Webinar themed &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Prospects of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Non-Oil Export<&sol;a> During and Post COVID-19” organized by the bank on Wednesday&comma; August 26&comma; 2020&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">According to him&comma; the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which has impacted the demand for oil and&comma; by extension&comma; the price of crude oil in the international commodities market has further exposed Nigeria’s over-dependency on crude oil earnings and its susceptibility to oil-related shocks&period; He added that the events of the last couple of months have also highlighted the limited range of the country’s value-added products exported to foreign markets&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">He noted further that boosting non-oil export is imperative in view of the opportunities that exist in the broader contexts of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">ECOWAS<&sol;a> Trade Liberalisation Scheme and the African Continental Free Trade Area &lpar;AfCFTA&rpar; which seeks to create a continent-wide market of 1&period;2 billion people with combined Gross Domestic Product &lpar;GDP&rpar; of &dollar;2&period;5 trillion and about &dollar;4 trillion in consumer and business spending&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Whilst commending the efforts of the government and the <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wsj&period;com">Central Bank of Nigeria<&sol;a> &lpar;CBN&rpar; to deepen the non-oil export business in the country&comma; <strong>Ebenezer<&sol;strong> Onyeagwu urged players in the non-oil export value-chain including exporters and financial institutions to play their part in the drive towards expanding the nation’s non-oil export base&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Delivering the keynote address&comma; the Director of Trade &amp&semi; Exchange&comma; Central Bank of Nigeria &lpar;CBN&rpar;&comma; Dr&period; &lpar;Mrs&rpar; OzoemenaNnaji&comma; who commended Zenith Bank for organizing the webinar at a time like this&comma; observed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for the country&comma; as it has once again exposed the over-dependence of the Nigerian economy on one product&period; She therefore called for a deeper policy look at the non-oil sector to find ways of genuinely improving the quality and quantity of our non-oil export goods&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Also speaking at the Webinar&comma; the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council &lpar;NEPC&rpar;&comma; Mr&period; Olusegun Awolowo commended the efforts of Zenith bank in promoting non-oil export business in Nigeria&comma; describing the bank as &OpenCurlyQuote;the Export Trade Bank of Nigeria’&period; Speaking on the topic &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Repositioning Non-oil export as a Leading Revenue Earner&colon; Government Plans and Programmes”&comma; Awolowo noted that the crash in oil prices following the COVID-19 pandemic and<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thisdaylive&period;com"> OPEC<&sol;a>’s price war with Russia reinforced what everyone already knows – the mono-product economy of the country is not sustainable&comma; calling for a buy-in into the Zero oil policy of NEPC&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Zenith Bank remains committed to the promotion of the non-oil export sector in Nigeria by identifying emerging opportunities which help in stimulating non-oil exports and developing robust financial products and incentives for operators in the sector&period; The bank launched the Non-Oil Export Seminar in 2017 as an initiative to deepen the discourse on promoting non-oil export business in Nigeria&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;