TheCable

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has asked exporters to take advantage of bank interventions for the non-oil export sector.

Ezra Yakusak, executive director of NEPC, said this at a one-day workshop organised by the council in collaboration with Zenith Bank on Thursday in Owerri, the Imo state capital.

Yakusak was represented at the event by Anthony Ajuruchi, NEPC’s trade promotion advisor.

He said bank interventions were critical to the survival of businesses affected by declining exchange rates and foreign exchange (FX) scarcity.

“Nigeria is diversifying because we can no longer continue to rely on oil to boost our economy, going by current realities in the global market,” Yakusak said.

“We are grateful to Zenith Bank for their continued commitment to the survival of the export business in Nigeria through many interventions, and we call on exporters to take advantage of these interventions.”

Speaking on the theme ‘Enhancing non-oil exports through bank intervention’, Charles Anyacho, zonal head of Zenith Bank in Imo, expressed the company’s readiness to provide support for export business.

He called on exporters to take advantage of the bank’s ‘Zero to Hero’ programme, targeted at training intending exporters, and the federal government’s anchor borrowers’ programme.

Anyacho said the federal government’s race to N200 billion foreign exchange (RT 200 FX) was an indication of the its commitment to non-oil exports.

Also speaking at the event, Emmanuel Eke, an exporter, called for realistic and sincere support for the export business from stakeholders, especially banks.

He encouraged exporters in the state to remain resilient in their quest to grow their businesses and be able to compete with their counterparts in the global export market.