The federal government is hopeful that, with the right tools, the non-oil sector can transform the country’s present financial difficulties into greater economic prosperity.
The guarantee was given yesterday at the Export Mentorship Program (EMP) launch in Abuja by Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council [NEPC].
According to data from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the industry saw $4.820 billion in export commerce in 2022, a 39.91% rise over the export value in 2021.
In the first quarter of 2023, 167 non-oil products were exported, ranging from manufactured and semi-processed goods to solid minerals and raw agricultural commodities, according to NEPC statistics.
In fact, Ayeni urged financial organizations like the Bank of Industry (BOI) and other government-affiliated support agencies to boost MSMEs’ finance in order to grow the nation’s non-oil export revenue.
“The EMP is a well-thought-out strategy whereby budding exporters are attached to established manufacturing exporters for a predetermined period of time in order to learn the fundamentals of the non-oil export business,” the speaker claims.
According to her, the impetus behind the EMP concept stemmed from the urgent need to improve the non-oil export sector’s performance in Nigeria by giving new exporters a real platform on which to practically learn from and unlearn from experienced ones.
The export membership program’s debut today is just another proactive move to guarantee that the skills gap and other various barriers impacting export performances—particularly for recently registered exporters—are minimized to the absolute least.
“What sets the EMP apart is its practical, hands-on approach, in which exporters willingly appoint mentees to receive tutelage on all aspects of the non-oil export business.”
She clarified that the global best statistics, which indicate that less than 10% of beginning exporters can effectively move from prospective to performing exporters within their first three to five years of establishment, served as the foundation for the council’s decision to adopt the EMP strategy for developing a new crop of skilled exporters.
The NEPC Director of Trade Information, Dr. Joe Itah, had earlier stated during his welcome speech that 20 participants were being trained by five mentors during the EMP’s pilot phase.
He claims that roughly fifteen mentees successfully finished their program and would receive certifications.
