Polaris Bank, Tuesday, flagged off its activities to sensitise exporters on the benefits of Central Bank of Nigeria’s RT200 non-oil export proceeds repatriation rebate scheme.
While the road show kicked off in Akure, the Ondo State capital Tuesday, it will be held in Kano State on Thursday April 28.
The CBN scheme, which is aimed at raising $200 billion in foreign exchange (FX) earnings from Non-Oil Proceeds over the next 3-5 years, is designed to incentivize exporters in the Non-Oil export sector to encourage repatriation and sale of export proceeds into the FX market.
Speaking at the sensitisation seminar in Akure the Bank’s Group Head, Corporate Banking Group, Mr. Anthony Uba, highlighted the benefits of the scheme to non-oil exporters.
He also enlightened them on what they stand to benefit when they partner Polaris Bank.
According to Uba, represented by the bank’s Group Head, Ondo/Ekiti Region, Mr. Rasheed Yusuf, CBN’s guidelines for the scheme stipulates that for every US$1 repatriated and sold at the I & E Window to Authorised Dealer Banks (ADBs) for other third-party use, N65 will be paid to the exporter.
He added also that for every US$1 repatriated and sold into I & E for own use on eligible transactions only, N35 will be paid.
The group’s head further acknowledged that Polaris Bank deployed various technology platforms to ensure excellent service delivey to her customers, including small and large scale exporters, maintaining it’s readiness to support their different needs.
The Head, Trade Promotion Advisor at the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Macpherson Fred-Ileogben, harped on the significant role NEPC will play in supporting the success of the scheme.
He continued that the present administration was poised to diversify the Nigerian economy, affirming that the non-oil exporters will play a significant role in achieving this objective.
He, therefore, implored participants to embrace the regulatory CBN initiative to derive maximum benefit from the same.
A member of the Ondo State Export Cluster and participant at the conference, Dr. Jibayo Oyebade, assured the bank and other stakeholders of the state’s export cluster readiness to work with Polaris Bank as their preferred banker for the scheme.
The conference had in attendance key stakeholders, exporters of cocoa beans, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, and palm oil in the non-oil exports sector in Ondo and Kano States.