…Says ‘This can be achieved by closing knowledge gaps’
The Nigerian Export Promotions Council (NEPC) says the best way to boost non-oil export is to close knowledge gaps through trainings and other forms of empowerment.
The Council said it is bent on promoting non-oil export in the oil region and that trainings were needed to create huge awareness and export consciousness in the region.
For this reason, NEPC mounted a two-day training and empowerment seminar in Port Harcourt that has lectures, interactions, and skills that can take budding and interested exporters from zero to export in a scheme called ‘Zero2Export’.
Delivering the keynote address, Joe Ita (PhD), Director, Trade Information Unit of NEPC, who was Regional Coordinator for south-south, said the two-day programme was very key in the oil region.
This, he stated, was because the programme is very key in driving the core mandates of the Council, bridging knowledge gaps of intending exporters and creating awareness for stakeholders and practitioners in the non-oil export value chain.
“As you may already be aware, the NEPC is saddled with the onerous task of promoting the development and diversification of Nigeria’s export trade, the zero2export training programme was designed to boost and upscale the capacity of prospective and existing exporters on the nitty-gritty of non-oil export business.
“Fully aware that the knowledge gap of individuals varies according to their peculiar needs, the zero2export programme was categorized into phases of; Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced levels, to enable participants ample opportunity for growth and progression on the programme.”
He said the beginner’s course was intended for those with little or zero knowledge on non-oil export. “The choice of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as the location for the South-South region is obvious, considering the growing interest and numbers of exporting companies in the state, coupled with nearness to the seaport. These can be harnessed to improve non-oil export performance of the Country.”
Ita said the NEPC was very committed to actualizing the objectives of the zero2export programme which he said included but not limited to raising a crop of highly informed and knowledgeable indigenous exporters capable of transversing the non-oil export landscape and contributing immensely to the growth and development of the sector.
“At the end of the 2-day training, it is expected that participants will be up-to-speed on the basics/rudimentary aspects of export business. It is my firm belief that your participation at this event is not a coincidence as the audience was carefully selected from NEPC’s database of registered exporters. I therefore implore you to pay rapt attention as the facilitators guide you through the modules. I have no doubt in their ability to deliver as always.”
He urged the participants to make the best use of the trainings.
Experts within the NEPC and others outside usually storm the sessions with basic information that touch on business principles, then other lectures on selecting commodities and items for export, getting buyers outside Nigeria, preservation, packaging, meeting local and international standards, etc.
The major challenge budding exporters usually face is funding and getting customers. These lead to advanced trainings and continuous handholding schemes.
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