Economist identifies increased gas export as panacea for boosting nation’s foreign trade

An economist, Mr Ikechukwu Unegbu, has identified efficient gas export and education as panacea for boosting the country’s foreign trade.
Unegbu, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.

He said that the Federal Government must give more priority to gas export so as to enhance its volume of foreign trade in the international market.

“ Since the country has a comparative advantage in gas production and can boast of sizable reserves, it is expected to be a leading revenue earner.

“ But rather, it is not being utilised to the optimal as a huge quantum is flared in the Niger Delta zone,” he said.

He noted that the Federal Government must sustain its building of critical infrastructure to open up the economy for new investments.

He also suggested that the Federal Government should invest more in empowering educational institutions, in order to export skilled manpower.

“ The government can make huge revenue from exporting skilled manpower across the region because the country has a huge population.

“Countries such as Cuba have made a lot of revenue by exporting their trained medical personnel to other nations of the world and we can do likewise,” he said.

NAN reports that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that the value of Nigeria’s total merchandise trade declined to N8.30 trillion in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2020).

This is representing a contraction of 17.94 per cent compared to N10.12 trillion recorded in Q4 of 2019.

It noted that the drop in trade occurred against the backdrop of a global slowdown in economic activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. (NAN)