The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has attributed the failure of Nigerian exporters at the international market to a lack of training in the export market.
NEPC’s Executive Director, Segun Awolowo, stated this in Benin, Edo State, during a workshop on: “Export Market Strategy/Readiness Training for Nigerian Women-Owned Businesses”.
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Represented by Mrs Patience Afangide, Awolowo said lack of export market training was one of the major reasons why Nigerian exporters failed at the international market.
He said, “Exporters need to learn the specific requirements of the target markets, as well as the certification needed for the products to be exported.
“It is on this premise that the council decided to organize this workshop that comprises coaching, mentoring and networking sessions to give women entrepreneurs the opportunity to improve their readiness and knowledge of competitiveness in the export market.”
According to him, a recent survey by the World Bank revealed that Nigeria has one of the highest rates of female entrepreneurship in the world.
He, therefore, stressed the need to increase women’s potential to partake in high-level businesses that would foster financial empowerment, job creation, and social development in their communities.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Institute of Export Operations and Management (IEOM), Ofon Udofia, urged exporters to embark on proper market research analyses before venturing into export trade.
Mr. Udofia said, “In export business, exporters must do their market analyses; study and analyze the business they want to do or enter into.”
He added that researching potential markets will help identify and determine where people could sell their products, adding that they must understand their market.
