Non – oil exporters receive #144 billion rebates in 14 months

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disbursed a total of N144 billion to exporters of semi and finished commodities as rebates in the life of the RT200 Programme.

Last quarter alone, the exporters were paid a total of N25.04 billion or about an eightfold year-on-year increase. The non-oil rebate scheme, a major pillar of the RT200, took off in the first quarter of last year with exporters receiving a total incentives of N3.23 billion.

For a dollar repatriated and sold at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window for third-party utilisation, exporters are given N65. Foreign exchange (FX) repatriated for own use through the official window attracts N35 per dollar.

At the RT200 Non-oil Summit, another leg of the programme, held in Lagos yesterday, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, described the scheme as a phenomenal success story in the effort to raise the performance of the critical sector.

Emefiele told the gathering that a total of $1.7 billion has been repatriated this year so far whereas 46.5 per cent of the value (or $790 million) was sold at the I&E window. The balance, he said, is retained in the exporters’ domiciliary accounts.

Emefiele, at the summit, said the CBN would continue to engage other critical stakeholders to increase the volume of non-oil export – the most sustainable source of FX to any country.

“For exporters, flying the flag of Nigeria in the international market, the Bankers’ Committee and the CBN stand ready to partner with you to achieve your goals. You can benefit from the many financial programmes introduced by the CBN through your banks and as such grow your business exponentially,” the CBN chief said.

To raise the bar of transparency of the scheme, Emefiele said the regulator started publishing the identities of the beneficiaries in January this year, promising that the Bankers’ Committee would continue to work with other stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges faced by exporters.