Stakeholders Engagement on the repositioning of Nexportrade Houses LTD
The Council in collaboration with MAN Export Group (MANEG) facilitated a stakeholders’ engagement on the establishment of an Export Ware House in Lome, Togo, under the auspices of NEXPORTRADE Houses Limited. The meeting which was held in Lagos between Tuesday 11th – Wednesday 12th August, 2020 at MAN House Ikeja, Lagos, was the first in the a series of sensitization meetings to be held across the country.
Objectives
- To Enhance the global visibility of Made-in-Nigeria products and services.
- To drastically reduce the cost of logistics for Nigerian exporters especially the Micro-Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Background
The Nexportrade Houses Ltd (NHL) project was conceived and established in 2006, through the joint effort of NEPC, MANEG and some other stakeholders from the Public and Organized Private Sector. It was proposed as one of the strategies for Nigerian firms to access the international market with the ultimate objective of increasing Nigeria’s international market share while also stimulating economic growth.
The pilot project which was proposed for Lome, Togo is yet to commence operations and this has hindered the realization of its objective of promoting the patronage for export quality “Made-in-Nigeria” products / services in West Africa and Africa at large.
The meeting brought together major stakeholders/ operators (especially active exporters) in the Non-oil export sector to discuss critical issues affecting the commencement of the project and to proffer solutions with a view to repositioning NHL.The meeting also provided the needed opportunity to educate and sensitize the targeted beneficiaries (i. e. SMEs) on the objectives and goals of NHL.
The Executive Director/CEO of the NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, who was represented by Mrs Uduak Etokowoh, the Director of International Export office said “If we must as a nation forge ahead in the non-oil export drive, then we must be ready and willing to change our marketing strategies or ways of accessing foreign markets. It is in this context that we need to ensure the smooth take off of NHL in order to reap the benefits accruable from the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement”.
While presenting a paper on the role of various regulatory agencies to the NEXPORTRADE Project, Barr Kola Awe, highlighted the need to bring up a comprehensive framework for the operation of the Warehousing scheme. He opined that NEXPORTRADE project will be successful if the political will exist to establish an economic zone for NEXPORTRADE by the Federal Government.
On his part, the Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Export Group, Chief Ede Dafinone reiterated that the NEPC and NHL both have a joint mission to improve and continually increase the quality and quantity of non-oil export products that will access the West African market under the NEXPORTRADE Project.
The meeting had representatives of various Government Agencies in attendance, among whom were the NIgerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), NAFDAC, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) among others. The second and third phase of the programme is scheduled for Port- Harcourt and Kano respectively.
