With the launch of trade houses in Egypt and Togo, NEPC, is targeting a 40% increase in the country’s exports. Speaking during an event entitled, ‘Advocacy Programme on Export Trade House, Cairo, Egypt’, in Abuja. The Chief Executive Officer of the NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak, said it targeted the export trade houses at driving market access for Nigerian products.
He further said through the export trade house to ship Nigerian products, warehoused, displayed, and purchased in North-African countries. Stressing that the trade houses would enhance the visibility of made-in-Nigeria products outside the Nigerian shores. While reducing the cost of logistics for the Nigerian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
CEO of Agramverdi, a partner company in Cairo, Ghazwan Minsallati, noted that Egypt came because of the demand for Nigerian products in the country. He urged Nigerian exporters to add value to their products before shipping them out. Noting that his firm could serve as an intermediary between a Nigerian exporter and an Egyptian buyer.
Director of the International Export Office, NEPC, Mr Babatunde Faleke, concurred that the cost of production in Nigeria was high. This is owing to poor infrastructure, high cost of funds, among others, but he noted that the country’s products should be able to fill the demand gap in Africa and dominate the continental market.
-Punch.