Nigerian exporters have lamented their non-inclusion and deprivation of opportunities to attend local and international expos especially the Small Medium Enterprises SMEs while calling on the federal government and the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment to immediately launch a probe into the activities of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council NEPC under Nonye Ayeni’s leadership.
They lamented that most of the market opportunities open to Nigerian exporters are lost due to non-inclusion of exporters in trade expos while accusing the staff of NEPC of filling up spaces that should ordinarily belong to the exporters.
The Protem Chairman, Harriman Natsa, who said this during the press conference he presided over in Abuja which was attended by journalists including Team@orientactualmags.com, disclosed that the just concluded China -Africa expo attracted nearly 4,700 Chinese and African Enterprises and had more than 30,000 participants.
Only one Nigerian government official however attended the trade expo and the person in question ,an official of the Export Promotion Council, had posed as an exporter.
‘A total number of 176 deals were signed during the China-Africa expo which is more than eleven billion dollars as more than 200,000 people visited the venue. With these statistics the expo would have provided the perfect prospect for Nigerian businesses to explore new markets, access Chinese technologies, foster direct interactions with Chinese manufacturers and investors.
While other African countries participated in the China-Africa expo to showcase their premium products, the NEPC ended up exhibiting shame and embarrassment, by placing different colours of bathroom rubber slippers and hand sanitizers, which were the only products on display in the Nigerian pavilion. Perhaps someone needs to school the NEPC that participation in such world events goes beyond exhibition, it is a political and economic statement that determines how a country should be rated in the comity of nations.
With the recent tariff hikes by United State, African countries are positioning themselves as China’s strategic partners due to shrinking Western trade influence.
This window of opportunity for Nigerian exporters to access the China market was wasted by the NEPC due to crass ignorance of the current world trade dynamics.
The viral video of the Nigerian pavilion at the China-Africa expo unwittingly exposed an unconventional practice that has been introduced by the NEPC leadership which is not only counterproductive but totally against the interest of exporters.
The council has stealthily introduced a practice of its officers attending major international Trade Fair or expos while excluding exporters. Instead of advertising the trade fair and inviting the organized private sector to participate, the NEPC on its own purchased sample products from various manufacturers and sponsors its officers to participate in the trade fair and display the purchased products’ the chairman said.
Natsa also lamented that sometimes sample products are collected free from exporters for display at trade fairs without inviting the actual exporters which, he noted, comes with huge cost as many of the officials in question do attend trade fairs with high estacodes just to display other people’s products noting that this was what happened during the China-Africa expo.
‘Exporters are using this medium to challenge the NEPC to provide the list of international programmes so far attended by its officials against the number of exporters that have participated in such events’ he added-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
