FG will continue to support non-oil sector — Trade minister

The Federal Government has assured of its support for the non-oil sector and create pathways to ensure that Nigerian products meet international standards and reach new markets. The Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, gave the assurance at the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Re-energized Webinar Series 3.0 themed “Understanding Market Access: Leveraging on Key Trade Corridors” which was held at the NEPC headquarters on Wednesday in Abuja.

Speaking on the topic “Re-energizing Entrepreneurs, SMEs, and Exporters”, the minister said the event is a testament to government’s commitment to enhance Nigeria’s export potential and fostering economic growth through strategic trade partnerships. The minister who commended the NEPC for organising the programme assured the exporters of government’s support to revive and turn the economy around. “This webinar aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the complexities of global trade.



We’ll explore various trade corridors, discuss regulatory frameworks, and highlight best practices that can help us capitalise on our competitive advantages. In today’s globalised world, understanding market access is crucial for our business to thrive. Our diverse resources and innovative spirit position Nigeria as a significant player in international trade.

By leveraging key trade corridors, we can create pathways for our products, ensuring they meet international standards and reach new markets. “Value-adding products can revatilise our economy and products. The only way we can add value is to revatilise our industry.

The traders add value to the economy when they start to add value to the product they export. I want to thank us for promoting made in Nigerian goods and promoting export. Together, we can strengthen our export capacities, diversity our economy and create sustainable job opportunities for our citizens,” Dr Uzoka-Anite said.

Earlier in her remarks, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer (ED/CEO), NEPC, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, said the Council is committed to giving support to Nigerian exporters in their quest to conquer global markets and empower them with the knowledge and resources needed to thrive in an increasingly competitive environment. Ayeni said the NEPC Connect platform was created to bridge the gap between the exporters and the Council, gives support to the exporters as well helping the non-oil sector to develop. The NEPC boss added that the platform has been used to train the exporters, provide them guidelines, and build their capacities to be able to scale up in whatever they do in terms of promotion, pricing, and understanding regulations associated with international trade.

Ayeni, who thanked the minister for her support, said there is a need to organise all the major players in the value chain in different segments by ensuring that they scale up and see non-oil exports in Nigeria double. “The NEPC Connect is a platform that we created this year to bridge the gap between the exporters and the Council. We have a lot of initiatives and programs all year towards supporting the exporters and helping to develop non-oil products.

But some of them (exporters) are not really aware and they don’t know how to take advantage of that. We created this platform so that we can use it to bridge the gap. “We also use that opportunity to train them, to provide guidelines, and build their capacities to be able to scale up in whatever they do.

And then, we also use this opportunity to train them to see what happens if they want to export to China and what they require in terms of promotion, pricing, and in terms of understanding the regulation. We also opened their minds to some of the products that can be exported to those countries. This is a good platform (NEPC Connect) that I want to encourage all exporters to partake in.

We have 4,244 hybrid participants for the webinar. “We want to see more and like I said, everybody cannot be an exporter but everyone must find a pact in the value chain. If you also listened to what the Honourable Minister said, she said we need to organise all the major players in the value chain in different segments.

Then we can build their capacities, support them, work with our development partners, work with various agencies and even our parent Ministry (of Industry, Trade and Investment) to ensure that they scale up and see that non-oil export in Nigeria doubled. “You could see that the Honourable Minister was here, made a powerful presentation. She gave us more guidance and direction.

The Permanent Secretary (of the Ministry) was also here from beginning to end, one of the directors was also here. So, how else do you describe support? “We have built the capacity of these exporters by opening their horizons through agricultural practices, teach them how to package, how to label. Just opening them to the market and that is why we take some of them to some trade fair.

We provide information that they need which is one of the things we did here so that they can be export-ready and be able to play and compete in the global market,” the NEPC boss told Tribune Online. The Special Assistant to the President on Export Expansion, Office of the Vice President, Aliyu Sheriff, described the event as a crucial step in a collective journey towards realising Nigeria’s full potential in the global market. “By increasing market access and diversify our trade routes, we are laying the foundation for a more robust and resilient export sector,” he said.

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