Nigeria’s export to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act policy declined in the first half of 2020 to $244.1million.
According to the latest AGOA trade statistics, exports to the US under the duty-free policy fell by 85 per cent to $244.1m in H1 2020 from $1.62bn in the same period of 2019.
The Annual trade data further shows the largest contribution towards AGOA-eligible trade commodities is usually oil exports mainly from Angola and Nigeria, and, to a lesser extent, Chad and the Republic of Congo.
Reacting to the report, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo said only a few Nigerian exporters benefited from the duty-free trade opportunity despite series of sensitisation carried out by the council.
He also said an assessment of the impact of coronavirus on agricultural exports showed that the pandemic will lead to a fall in export of cocoa beans, cashew nuts and sesame seeds this year,
He adds that the crash in oil prices as a result of the pandemic is an indication that a mono-product economy is not sustainable and that there is an urgent need to develop non-oil export.
