Federal Government disburses N308.4bn to 199 exporting firms
The Federal Government has approved the disbursement of N308, 458, 160, 546.41 worth of Promissory Notes to 199 exporting companies as part of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) Scheme. The announcement was made by Dr. Ezra Yakusak, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in Abuja over the weekend while issuing letters to some beneficiaries of the scheme.
The disbursement included N193, 456, 239, 386.40 for 133 beneficiaries in respect of EEG outstanding claims between 2017 to 2020, and N108, 317, 269, 008.76 for 35 beneficiaries in respect of EEG backlogs of claims between 2007 to 2016. Additionally, N68, 389, 000.00 only was approved for 13 beneficiaries in respect of stocks of outstanding Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCC), while N6, 617, 781, 151.25 was approved for 69 beneficiaries in respect of short fall in the approved claims by the 8th National Assembly.
NEPC's Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Ndubueze Okeke, praised the Federal Government and the National Assembly for their timely response in approving the payment of the outstanding claims to the beneficiaries. However, the Council is still waiting for the approval and release of N60,635,088,940.63 which represents the EEG claims for 34 beneficiary companies from the NASS.
It is noteworthy that the EEG is an incentive scheme established by the Export (Incentives & Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap E19, laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The scheme was designed to stimulate the increase in the volume and value of Made-in-Nigerian products in the international market while encouraging the export of value-added products rather than raw agricultural commodities.
Economic analysts are optimistic that the recent disbursement of the said sum will lead to an increase in non-oil export activities and ultimately boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
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