Zenith Bank GMD seeks expansion of non-oil export

Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, has called for concerted efforts towards diversifying the country’s export base through the promotion of non-oil exports.

The bank said this in a statement on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, entitled, ‘Zenith Bank GMD calls for concerted efforts to expand non-oil exports and revenue post COVID-19.’

It stated that Onyeagwu made the call during a webinar, themed ‘Prospects of non-oil export during and post COVID-19’ organised by the bank on Wednesday.

According to him, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had impacted the demand for oil and, by extension, 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.

He added that the events of the last couple of months had also highlighted the limited range of the country’s value-added products exported to foreign markets.

He said boosting non-oil export was imperative in view of the opportunities that existed in the broader contexts of ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme and the African Continental Free Trade Area, which sought to create a continent-wide market of 1.2 billion people, with combined Gross Domestic Product of $2.5tn and about $4tn in consumer and business spending.