Can AGOA Help the Naira?

Culled—Proshare

October 22, 2016 /NASD Plc
Recently the Nigerian Economic Summit launched what could well be a ‘Made in Nigeria’ philosophy. As the last “excess” from Nigeria’s crude oil production capacity dries up, the needs are startlingly obvious.

The need for import reduction, local substitution and export generation highlight an urgent need to scratch every surface to find those slightly more demanding but infinitely more sustainable enterprises. NASD did a little scratching and got AGOA – something little heard of and certainly not yet exploited.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act [“AGOA”] is a United States of America Trade Act dating back to May 2000 and expiring in 2025. AGOA offers tangible incentives for African countries to build free markets and grow private enterprises. The primary incentive allows export of local non-oil products to USA free of Duty and Tariff. Under this scheme, Africa’s non-oil exports were $4.1billion in 2015 with products ranging from automobile parts, apparel, footwear, prepared fruits, nuts and even cut flowers.

Even more encouraging is that we came across a Nigerian company, in a free trade Zone, that is on the verge of exploiting AGOA. The target product? Cotton yarn and buttons that have a 90% local content ratio and are high on the AGOA list. Of course the company requires capital to reach the required critical mass that makes such a venture commercially viable (and indeed help the Naira).

NASD believes that many opportunities similar to AGOA are available to local enterprise. We remain eager to support local enterprise on all size scales with a platform that eases the capital raising process and creates liquidity for investors …transparently.

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Unlisted Securities Index
As at Friday, 21 October 2016, the index closed at 627.34 Points (down 0.04% on previous close of 627.58 Points).