FG , USAID, sign expansion trade MoU

The United States Agency for International
Development on Tuesday signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with the Nigerian Export
Promotion Council on export of Nigeria’s
agricultural produce.
The partnership would involve export development
strategies for priority value chain which includes
transportation of the produce.
At the occasion in Abuja, the Executive Director of
the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr
Olusegun Awolowo, said the partnership would help
curb the informal commercial transaction in the
West Africa sub-region.
“We are talking about a market of 600 million
people, inter-Africa trade, and this project that we
are doing with the support of USAID is the Nigerian
expanded trade and transport programme.
“It is out to get access for our goods all over
Africa.
“With that, we will be able to formalise the informal
trade which is about 12 billion dollars (about N2004
billion), bringing it back into the formal sector,” he
said.
Responding, the USAID Director in Nigeria, Mr
Michael Harvey, said that the understanding was
borne out of the need for Nigeria to diversify its
economy.