The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has inaugurated a $1.2-million programme to improve export standards of Nigeria’s sesame and cowpea products.
Speaking at the inauguration of the seven trade support programmes for Nigeria initiated by the WTO, World Bank, and ITC on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director General of the WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the projects would tackle cases of rejection of Nigeria’s products on the international market.
She said the projects were inaugurated with the Standards Trade Development Facility (STDF), International Trade Centre (ITC), and the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
According to her, the project will support international safety and quality certification for sesame and cowpeas in Nigeria.
She said that Nigeria’s agriculture sector had the potential to be a major driver of export diversification and job creation, but too much of this potential remained unrealized due to barriers.
“We all know the story about Nigeria being a significant exporter of palm kernels, groundnuts, palm oil, cotton, and cocoa, but the country has since become a net importer of many of these goods.
“In fact, Nigeria has not only lost out in agricultural export markets; it is also a net food importer, spending about billions a year on goods, many of which we can also produce here.
“Nigeria used to be a formidable agricultural exporter. Up until the mid-1960s, the country’s share of world agricultural exports was more than one per cent.
“However, agricultural exports collapsed as the economy shifted towards petroleum exploitation, and by the mid-1980s, Nigeria’s world market share for agricultural products had dwindled to less than 0.1 percent,” the report by Vanguard newspaper on Wednesday quoted Okonjo-Iweala as saying.
GIK/APA
WTO inaugurates $1.2m programme to improve Nigeria’s export standards
