CBN vows to sanction shipping companies exporting undocumented cargoes 

By Business A.M. 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to penalise shipping companies exporting undocumented cargoes from the country.

Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, stated this while speaking  at the RT200 Non-Oil Export Summit 2023 on Tuesday in Abuja, themed “‘RT200: Challenges and Prospects’.

According to Emefiele,the development of the non-oil export sector is crucial given that it holds vast potential for generating a significant amount of foreign exchange earnings.

The CBN governor  said the apex bank regularly monitors and appeals to exporters to document their exports and repatriate proceeds so it can be utilised optimally for the benefit of the country’s economy.

He, however, noted that the CBN was aware that some people try as much as possible to sidetrack the process by attempting to export their cargo without documentation.

“About three years ago, I had a meeting at the Central Bank of Nigeria in Lagos with the shipping lines. I had said the central bank will be beaming some satellites on undocumented exports,” Emefiele said.

He further noted that the CBN had advised the shipping lines at that meeting that it will also be monitoring their activities,  and any export cargo found without documentation would be  penalised,including placing their accounts on post-no-debit (PND).

“We have so far not done anything like that just because we feel that the shipping lines will be responsible to do what is right. But, if we do not see the kind of cooperation that we expect, I’d have to insist that we do what we need to do,” he added.

The RT200FX programme was introduced by the CBN to stimulate non-oil exports with a $200 billion FX income target in the next three to five years.

Commenting on the success of the RTX 200, the CBN governor said earnings from non-oil exports jumped by 40 per cent from $3 billion in 2021 to $5.6 billion at the end of 2022.

Emefiele noted  that the RTX 200 programme has led to tremendous progress in export proceeds repatriation since its establishment in February 2022.

“In February of 2022 and March, it was only N62 million. By the second quarter, which was April to June, it had risen to about 600 million. By the third quarter, (July to August or September), it had risen to over 900 million,” he said.

Citing available data, the CBN governor said that repatriation due to the programme increased by 40 per cent from $3 billion in 2021 to $5.6 billion at the end of 2022. He also stated that the momentum for 2023 is equally issuing strong numbers and impressive prospects, as a total of $1.7 billion was repatriated to the economy in the first quarter of 2023, while about $970 million was sold into the I&E window.