The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Delta State office on Thursday took the newly registered exporters in Delta State on the tips to embark on successful exportation of non-oil products from the country.
This was as Zenith bank told the exporters to look beyond access to funds to seeing access to right information and ideas, building of their business’ structures and capacities as critical aspects if they must be successful in their export journey.
The exporters were those who registered from the year 2020 till date, comprising cooperative societies, non-governmental associations, limited liability companies and small medium scale enterprises (SMEs) amongst others.
In his keynote address presented at the one day enlightenment/interactive workshop held in Asaba, Peter Onokpasa, the trade promotion adviser of the Delta Smart Office of NEPC, said that the exporters needed to be equipped with facts about NEPC programmes and tips on procedures and documentations needed to embark on non-oil product export from Delta.
While formally welcoming the participants on behalf of Ezra Yakusak, the executive director/chief executive officer (ED/CEO) of NEPC, he urged the exporters to understand that export business unlike normal domestic trade where buyers and sellers physically meet on regular basis to do transactions without formal laydown rules, export business involved dealing with a buyer one may not have seen or met but do transactions based on laydown procedures and documents.
What this means is that it involves a lot of stages needed to be understood and adhered to by the exporter before he or she can successfully embark on export trade, he said.
This is to avoid mistakes that may arise by not following proper procedures and documentation processes which may cause the exporter loss of money and goods, Onokpasa explained.
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Onyekpe Chukwudi, director of cooperatives in the Delta State Ministry of Trade and Investments, who represented Anthonia Ugbogu, the permanent secretary of the ministry, in his speech, noted that export business is full of challenges but urged the exporters to be focused as exportation of non-oil products is very lucrative in terms of generating revenue for their families and state, as government is looking at revenue from other products apart from oil in the country.
Ken Okoye, Zenith bank’s marketing officer, in his presentation, harped on the need for the exporters to build their business structures and capacities to enable them access the available funds to grow their export businesses, assuring that the bank was out to help them succeed.
Also in her paper presentation, Florence Anukwa, the assistant chief trade promotion officer, NEPC Asaba export assistance office, listed the key component of export procedures and documentation as operated in Nigeria.
She said, “From the array of products that are available in Nigeria and in the face of a crippling recession, non-oil exports hold the future of the country.
For these products to record desired success, they must be rightly produced, rightly priced and rightly exported; this means that the requirements in these key activities must be strictly followed by our producers and marketers, she said, adding that this would further deepen economic development and stability in Delta State and Nigeria at large.
Responding on behalf of the exporters, Dennis Ehikwe, the assistant secretary, Delta Exporters Group, appreciated the NEPC for the programme and encouraged exporters in the state to be more committed for more achievements.
