Post by Trade facilitator on Jun 8, 2011 10:28:09 GMT 1
Opportunities in small-scale export business In Nigeria
Kenneth Okoh resides in a village in Abia State, and has traded on fruits and other farm produce for many years. He also sold food items, like palm fruit, cocoa, cassava, melon, guava, orange, coconut, among others, at the local market for several years.
As at 2008, when he started having a rethink on his achievements, he was still involved in the sale of these food items at the local market. For all his hard work, knowledge and determination, he had little or nothing to show in terms of financial returns.
As Okoh later realised, limiting his trading activities to the local market went a long way in depriving him of the numerous opportunities that could have attended to his business. “Because of the limited nature of the local market, farmers, who supply these produce, do not get maximum returns from their wares,” he says.
According to him, there is always the case of excess supply of these produce to the market yearly. This trend, market experts say, does not only result in poor pricing of the commodities but also leads to wastage because most of the produce get damaged, owing to their perishable nature.
However, today, Okoh sings a different song because he made new discoveries two years ago on how to explore available opportunities in his trade, both locally and internationally.
He now exports on a small-scale basis to some countries in Europe. By so doing, the once frustrated businessman now has excess demand for his harvests almost every time, selling them at competitive prices.
According to the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. David Adulugba, Nigeria is currently experiencing low volumes of trade with some countries in the world, which have ready markets for some products from Nigeria.
In most of these countries, the balance of trade has persistently been to the disadvantage of the Nigerian economy, indicating that Nigeria’s products and services, especially the non-oil ones, still have markets that have yet to be tapped.
This situation was created by years of overdependence of the country on oil export, which also resulted in a systemic depression of the non-oil exports. The determined posture of the government to promote non-oil export as a substitute revenue earner only means bigger opportunities for individuals and companies that want to explore exporting prospects in line with the need to address the high level of trade imbalance between Nigeria and some countries.
Adulugba says exporters should get themselves sensitised to the opportunities in the export sub-sector, especially in other countries. He only warns that prospective small-scale exporters need to be educated on import regulations as regards quality, standards, packaging, environment and chemical residue.
According to him, the NEPC has put in place some market entry strategies to assist Nigerian exporters to penetrate foreign markets.
He says, “Now, there is sponsorship of Nigerian exporters to international trade fairs/exhibitions through air-freighting of 100 kilogrammes of their exhibits and the provision of exhibition booths, interpreters, group transport and rebate value of one-way air-tickets.
“There is also the provision of information on trade enquiries from interested foreign buyers.”
The NEPC boss notes that, currently the Export Expansion Grant, which is a post-shipment export incentive designed to assist Nigerian exporters expand production facilities, quote competitive prices by giving price rebate and diversify export market, is being granted to exporters.
He says, “The NEPC conducts foreign market research in target markets and information from such research is passed to interested exporters. It provides World Commodity Price List to exporters to guide them in making export offers.
“The council also provides advisory services to exporters on product development and adaptation, packaging, labeling for export and market access.”
According to Adulugba, exporters and potential exporters should avail themselves of these incentives to enable them to launch their products into the European Union markets and other parts of the world.
This, he says, is important because the export business has become the surest way for individuals, companies and the nation to survive.
The Senior Trade Policy Adviser, National Board of Trade, Open Trade Gate, Sweden, Mr. Henrik Isakson, says it is important that exporters and would-be exporters get themselves acquainted with the various obstacles facing exports into foreign markets. He adds that issues, like tariff and quotas, trade preferences, product requirements and standards, among others, should be properly evaluated.
He identifies two major obstacles as militating agents against exporting to the European Union. According to him, at the border, it is mostly obstacles of tariff and tariff rate quotas in a number of cases. Besides the quota, he adds, technical requirements covering quality, safety, health, environment, among others, are there.
Isakson notes that, to explore trade preferences, exporters must ensure that they fulfill the requirements set out in the rules of origin. According to him, RoO are product-specific rules, whose purpose is to establish where a product was made.
For instance, for agricultural products, the focus is where the product was harvested; and for industrial goods, it is the place of the last substantial transformation of the product.
An exporter, Mr. Kingley Aham, says the Internet, being the mode of transaction, has acted as a useful force in meeting the needs of customers. He says the faultless, inexpensive but complex communication chain through different continents has created substantial rapport between the buyer and the retailer.
“Direct transaction between overseas retailers and exporters is growing rapidly, and wise exporters now plan and organise themselves in the best way to serve overseas retailers,” he says.
Source: www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110607250367
Kenneth Okoh resides in a village in Abia State, and has traded on fruits and other farm produce for many years. He also sold food items, like palm fruit, cocoa, cassava, melon, guava, orange, coconut, among others, at the local market for several years.
As at 2008, when he started having a rethink on his achievements, he was still involved in the sale of these food items at the local market. For all his hard work, knowledge and determination, he had little or nothing to show in terms of financial returns.
As Okoh later realised, limiting his trading activities to the local market went a long way in depriving him of the numerous opportunities that could have attended to his business. “Because of the limited nature of the local market, farmers, who supply these produce, do not get maximum returns from their wares,” he says.
According to him, there is always the case of excess supply of these produce to the market yearly. This trend, market experts say, does not only result in poor pricing of the commodities but also leads to wastage because most of the produce get damaged, owing to their perishable nature.
However, today, Okoh sings a different song because he made new discoveries two years ago on how to explore available opportunities in his trade, both locally and internationally.
He now exports on a small-scale basis to some countries in Europe. By so doing, the once frustrated businessman now has excess demand for his harvests almost every time, selling them at competitive prices.
According to the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. David Adulugba, Nigeria is currently experiencing low volumes of trade with some countries in the world, which have ready markets for some products from Nigeria.
In most of these countries, the balance of trade has persistently been to the disadvantage of the Nigerian economy, indicating that Nigeria’s products and services, especially the non-oil ones, still have markets that have yet to be tapped.
This situation was created by years of overdependence of the country on oil export, which also resulted in a systemic depression of the non-oil exports. The determined posture of the government to promote non-oil export as a substitute revenue earner only means bigger opportunities for individuals and companies that want to explore exporting prospects in line with the need to address the high level of trade imbalance between Nigeria and some countries.
Adulugba says exporters should get themselves sensitised to the opportunities in the export sub-sector, especially in other countries. He only warns that prospective small-scale exporters need to be educated on import regulations as regards quality, standards, packaging, environment and chemical residue.
According to him, the NEPC has put in place some market entry strategies to assist Nigerian exporters to penetrate foreign markets.
He says, “Now, there is sponsorship of Nigerian exporters to international trade fairs/exhibitions through air-freighting of 100 kilogrammes of their exhibits and the provision of exhibition booths, interpreters, group transport and rebate value of one-way air-tickets.
“There is also the provision of information on trade enquiries from interested foreign buyers.”
The NEPC boss notes that, currently the Export Expansion Grant, which is a post-shipment export incentive designed to assist Nigerian exporters expand production facilities, quote competitive prices by giving price rebate and diversify export market, is being granted to exporters.
He says, “The NEPC conducts foreign market research in target markets and information from such research is passed to interested exporters. It provides World Commodity Price List to exporters to guide them in making export offers.
“The council also provides advisory services to exporters on product development and adaptation, packaging, labeling for export and market access.”
According to Adulugba, exporters and potential exporters should avail themselves of these incentives to enable them to launch their products into the European Union markets and other parts of the world.
This, he says, is important because the export business has become the surest way for individuals, companies and the nation to survive.
The Senior Trade Policy Adviser, National Board of Trade, Open Trade Gate, Sweden, Mr. Henrik Isakson, says it is important that exporters and would-be exporters get themselves acquainted with the various obstacles facing exports into foreign markets. He adds that issues, like tariff and quotas, trade preferences, product requirements and standards, among others, should be properly evaluated.
He identifies two major obstacles as militating agents against exporting to the European Union. According to him, at the border, it is mostly obstacles of tariff and tariff rate quotas in a number of cases. Besides the quota, he adds, technical requirements covering quality, safety, health, environment, among others, are there.
Isakson notes that, to explore trade preferences, exporters must ensure that they fulfill the requirements set out in the rules of origin. According to him, RoO are product-specific rules, whose purpose is to establish where a product was made.
For instance, for agricultural products, the focus is where the product was harvested; and for industrial goods, it is the place of the last substantial transformation of the product.
An exporter, Mr. Kingley Aham, says the Internet, being the mode of transaction, has acted as a useful force in meeting the needs of customers. He says the faultless, inexpensive but complex communication chain through different continents has created substantial rapport between the buyer and the retailer.
“Direct transaction between overseas retailers and exporters is growing rapidly, and wise exporters now plan and organise themselves in the best way to serve overseas retailers,” he says.
Source: www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110607250367
