Export-led growth
development strategy has been observed to have some problems. Akpokodje (2000),
examines the effect of export earnings fluctuations on capital formation and
economic growth in Nigeria. The result show that fluctuations in export
earnings adversely affect private and public capital formation and that the
effect was larger in the case of public capital formation.
Blecker (1991) noted that export-led
growth is a strategy that cannot be pursued by all countries at the same time.
According to him, export promotion requires that the time other end there is an
importer of last resort, inotherwords, a
country with the international reserves
currency and an uncredible appetite for imports. He noted that the integration
of China into the world economic and its relatively low labour costs suggest
that countries with higher labour costs would find it increasingly difficult to
purse export oriented development strategies.
Ojo (1989) and Obadan (1994) have
stressed that some international development which could hamper the
contribution of an export, led growth strategy. These include the increased
protectionism in the industrialized and developed countries, the increased
competition faced by primary commodities in the world markets from the rapid
development of synthetic and other substitution in the industrialized countries
as well as the increased risk of external shocks. Nigeria having had the
problem of implementation of policies, have lingered it to the problem of
export-led development strategy as one of the problem of good strategies mapped
out so far in Nigeria on the way forward of export.
A number of factors can be identified
as the major obstacles to export promotion in Nigeria. Some of these factors
include:
1.
High cost of production in our manufacturing
sector due to high dependence on imported intermediate inputs. This limits the
competitiveness of our exports in our international markets.
2.
There are also the problems of vagaries in
weather, poor and unstable world prices, and low income elasticity of demand
for primary products in the world market.
3.
The inaccessibility to foreign markets and
the high tariff and non-tariff barriers against export from developing
countries are also major obstacles facing Nigerian exporters.
4.
Another obstacle to export promotion is the
lack of broad domestic supply base to service both domestic and foreign demand.
5.
There is also lack of adequate information
about Nigeria potential exports overseas.
Tedious and oppressive export documentation
processes also hinders growth of export promotion