World Bank advises Nigeria to remove ban on importation of food, fertiliser and clothes

The global lender disclosed this in the latest edition of the Nigeria Development Update (NDU) where it lauded the reforms of the last one year in the energy and foreign exchange sector.

According to the bank, Nigeria should follow up its fiscal initiatives such as removal of FX ban on 43 items and single window trade portal with removal of ban on food and fertiliser imports and other trade restrictions.

Furthermore, the bank noted that in the long term,, Nigeria should prioritize enhancing tariff transparency, minimizing non-tariff barriers, and streamlining trade facilitation through improved risk management and auditing processes.

The report reads, “The removal of the FX ban on 43 product lines, the temporary removal of tariffs on food products, and the re-launch of the single window are positive initial steps. Alongside the implementation of these measures, further actions should remove import bans on food and cleaning products, apparel, and fertilizers, as well as and align tariffs with the ECOWAS Common External Tariffs (CET).” 

The World Bank noted that the CBN should continue efforts to deepen the official FX market by facilitating formal remittance inflows, allowing international oil companies to channel their FX sales entirely through the official market, restoring intermediated market access to bureaux de change, and avoiding ad-hoc FX auctions.

It added that providing market participants with greater flexibility in FX trading over time would further enhance the depth of the FX market.

Nigeria has significant trade restrictions on a number of items imposing tariffs and outright ban as in the case food such as rice, food items and textile products. In the last administration of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), imposed a ban on access to FX for importers of 43 items.