The Head of African Growth Opportunity Act, Resource Centre, Mrs Bolanle Emmanuel, says there are 6,400 products, both edible and non-edible that can be exported from Nigeria to the US market by Nigerian business owners.
She disclosed this during a sensitisation programme organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council held in Abeokuta.
Emmanuel, however, said for Nigerian business owners to benefit from the programme, they must carry out research on what areas they could benefit and produce quality products that could meet international standards for export.
She said AGOA “is a forum that will not only enable duty and tariff-free export but also lead to internal growth, provide technical assistance and facilitate increase in the country’s income.
“For an exporter to be able to successfully export their products through AGOA, such product must be of high quality and proper market research must be done. Your shipment must be genuinely documented.
“We have 6,400 products that can be exported duty and tariff-free through AGOA and they are both edible and non-edible products.
On his own part, Gbolagade lamented that since Nigeria signed into AGOA, not many business owners had benefitted from it, “because we have only exported oil through AGOA, whose fortune has been dwindling.”
He argued that some exporters had been exporting their products paying duty and tariff “because of their lack of knowledge about the AGOA and this has in no way helped in reviving the economy.”
He noted that the programme could help develop and promote any product or enterprise, be it micro, small, medium or large enterprise.
