NEPC launches Export Trade House in China

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) yesterday in Hunan Province, China, launched an Export Trade House (ETH) as part of an effort to increase the export of Made-in-Nigerian products in China.

This was disclosed by the Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak while commissioning the ETH. The establishment of the ETH is a collaborative effort between the NEPC and Zeenab Foods Limited under a Public-Private-Partnership arrangement.

Dr. Yakusak explained that the ETH is targeted at improving sustainable trade inflows between Nigeria and China, increasing the share of Nigerian products in target markets as well as increasing foreign exchange inflows into the economy among others.

He disclosed that the Council in partnership with Zeennab Foods Limited has lined up several activities and programmes such as B2B meetings, Business and Investment Forum, meetings with business leaders and government officials as well as factory visits to end users of some of the Nigerian commodities to be traded in the facility such as sesame seeds. “All these are aimed at achieving the objectives of setting up the ETHS,” he added.

According to Dr. Yakusak “We have further extended invitation to key financial institutions in Nigeria namely – Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) among other commercial banks to leverage on the opportunities offered by the ETH”.

He also disclosed that the NEPC was appointed as a competent authority in Nigeria for the General Administration of Chinese Customs (GACC) of the Peoples Republic of China. “The GACC is a new clearance system introduced by the Customs Department of China which requires all overseas food manufacturers, processors and storage facilities to register under the system to ensure compliance with Chinese import policies”, he added.

To ensure that Nigerian goods meet the requirements, Dr. Yakusak disclosed that the NEPC has registered 34 companies and eleven different products under the scheme. These products are, Sorghum/millet, Sesame seed, Soya beans, dried split Ginger, Cocoa beans, Cashew nuts, dried cassava chips, Hibiscus flower among others.

He therefore implored Chinese companies to maximize the opportunities in the Nigerian economy by establishing factories that will produce value-added products for export to China and the global market.

In his remarks, the Ambassador of Nigeria to China, His Excellency, Baba Ahmad Jidda pointed out that the ETH is a strategic tool that will address the challenge of dwindling revenue from oil given that the world is moving away from oil to renewable energy.

“The launch of the Nigerian ETH is indeed a great foundation on which to strengthen and sustain the bilateral relationship existing between both countries,” he added.

With the opening of the China ETH, the Council has now launched and operationalized a total of four ETHS which are located in Cairo, Egypt, Lome in Togo and Nairobi in Kenya, while China is the fourth. Furthermore, Dr. Yakusak disclosed that in the year 2022, China was third on the list of top ten Nigerian export destinations with a total export performance of $375.185 million.