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Zenith Bank holds 7th int’l trade seminar on non-oil export

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The 7th annual edition of the Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar will be held on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The seminar, themed “unlocking opportunities in Nigeria’s non-oil export business”, is part of Zenith Bank’s efforts to support the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) initiatives to grow the country’s non-oil export sector.

The virtual seminar will draw participation from trade practitioners, local and foreign exporters, manufacturers, financial institutions, and government agencies.

It will provide an opportunity for all participants, including relevant government agencies, to explore ways to unlock the opportunities in Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.

The seminar will feature a welcome address by Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the group managing director of Zenith Bank plc, while the keynote speaker is Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive of Dangote Group.

Goodwill messages will be delivered by Jim Ovia, founder/chairman, Zenith Bank plc; Godwin Emefiele, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Wamkele Mene, secretary-general, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and president/chairman, Benedict Okey Oramah, African Export-Import Bank.

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There will be three-panel discussions during the seminar.

The first panel, titled “unlocking opportunities in Nigeria’s non-oil export business: operators/practitioners’ perspectives”, will focus on the value chain and prospects of the non-oil export sector and has five discussants. They include Adaku Chidume Okoro, managing director, GACON Ltd; Bibhu Nanda, managing director, WACOT; Johan Van Der Merwe, group managing director, Tulip Cocoa; Santosh Phenany, managing director, First Patriot, and Adeyemi Adeniji, managing director, Starlink Global & Ideal Ltd.

The second panel, titled “funding/logistics/government support for the non-oil export sector”, will explore the availability of long-term funds, insurance & reinsurance, and risk-sharing mechanisms for the non-oil export sector.

The panel has five discussants, including Olukayode Pitan, the managing director/CEO, Bank of Industry; Yusuf Philip Yila, development finance of the CBN; Naved Zafar, managing director, West Africa Container Terminal; Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and Ibrahim Hameed Ali, the comptroller-general, Nigeria Customs Service.

The third panel discussion, titled “the ABC of non-oil export”, will focus on the pitfalls in the non-oil export business, standardisation and grading of primary export products, as well as the export of services, especially the burgeoning Nigerian creative industry.

The panel also has five discussants. They Olusegun Awolowo, a trade expert; Agboola Olugbenga, founder/CEO, Flutterwave; Babatola Faseru, chairman/CEO, Colossus Investment; Segun Ajayi, president, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and Bamidele Ayemibo, senior consultant, 3T Impex Trade Centre.