On Wednesday, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council launched the International Trade Centre and the World Trade Organisation’s Standards and Development Facility for Sesame seed and Cowpea in Nigeria.
The goal of these efforts was to enhance Nigeria’s compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards and minimize export rejections.
During the announcement, it was disclosed that 4,800 Nigerian women have been included in the trading programme called SheTrades, supported by the World Bank.
Nonye Ayeni, the NEPC Executive Secretary, confirmed this during a technical meeting on the WTO/STDF implementation at the headquarters in Abuja.
On Tuesday, the WTO Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, launched seven trade support programmes to enhance Nigeria’s trade and industry standards.
She also mentioned a project aimed at improving Nigeria’s compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards to boost the country’s export capacity and take advantage of the global value of sesame exports, which was $7.35bn in 2022 and is expected to reach $9.27bn by 2032.
Additionally, she noted that cowpeas were valued at $7.2bn in 2023, with an expected increase to $9.43bn by 2028.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed delight in welcoming everyone to the event, emphasizing the importance of the WTO/ITC interactive session and the support for women-led businesses in global trade.
She also expressed gratitude to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for fulfilling her promise to support the Council in involving women-led businesses in global trade through the launch of the WTO/ITC STDF project 2024.
Ayeni explained that the aim of the programme was to increase the involvement of Nigerian women in global trade and promote gender equality, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No 5.
The NEPC boss stated that from 2018 to the present, about 7,800 women entrepreneurs have been assisted to enhance their export operations through the SheTrades Nigeria Hub.
She reassured the stakeholders that moving forward, NEPC would gather gender-disaggregated data and integrate women’s participation in international trade through the establishment of women-led businesses, digital skills acquisition, certification, and facilitating access to finance and markets.
She also reported that since 2016, NEPC has registered 29,000 exporters, with 4,000 being women-led businesses. Further, in 2017, NEPC initiated the Women in Export Development Programme and appointed women desk officers in all its regional and state coordinating offices to provide guidance for women-led businesses across Nigeria.
She highlighted the significant results of the collaboration with the ITC, particularly in the implementation of the Women in Export Development Programme, as over 4,800 Nigerian women have registered with ITC SheTrades.
“Since 2018, approximately 7,800 women entrepreneurs have received support to improve their export activities through the SheTrades Nigeria Hub.”
The Women in Export Development Programme has seen some accomplishments in creating better trade opportunities, connecting with women groups to establish stronger support systems, and providing information and resources for women-led MSMEs. Successful female exporters have also shared their knowledge and experiences to guide and mentor upcoming women entrepreneurs.
Dr Adamu Abdulhamid, the Nigerian Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation, called for support from stakeholders to enhance Nigeria’s export capacity through the project focused on improving sanitary and phytosanitary compliance.
He emphasized the need for Nigeria to take the programme implementation seriously in order to attract further assistance from the WTO.
“Considering the challenges the country is facing with product rejects, NEPC has been tasked with ensuring the success of the project.”