By Esther Sangodele
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mrs Nonye Ayeni, has urged women entrepreneurs and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to leverage opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), digital technologies and e-commerce platforms to expand their businesses into regional and international markets.
Ayeni, represented by Dr. Leticia Ifeyinwa Onu, gave the advice while delivering the keynote address at the Women Export Readiness and Market Intelligence Workshop organised by NEPC in collaboration with Impact Hub Ibadan in Oyo State.
She said the global marketplace was evolving rapidly, creating opportunities for Nigerian businesses to reach customers and partners beyond their immediate markets through digital technologies, trade agreements, e-commerce and stronger regional integration.
According to her, women-owned businesses have the potential to contribute significantly to Nigeria’s non-oil export growth and economic transformation, particularly in agriculture, food processing, fashion, cosmetics, creative industries, manufacturing and technology.
However, she noted that many SMEs continued to face challenges, including limited market information, inadequate access to finance, regulatory compliance, quality standards, logistics constraints and insufficient exposure to international trade opportunities.
Ayeni said access to export opportunities must be matched with adequate preparation, stressing that exporting involved more than selling products outside the country.
She explained that businesses seeking to enter international markets must understand buyers’ requirements, meet quality and safety standards, maintain consistent production, build reliable supply chains and establish trust with global customers.
She urged entrepreneurs to assess their export readiness by determining whether their products met international standards, whether they could sustain production at scale and whether they possessed the necessary certifications and documentation.
The NEPC chief executive described market intelligence as essential to business success, saying entrepreneurs who understood their markets were better positioned to identify customer needs, assess demand, monitor competitors and respond to changing consumer trends.
She urged participants to ask questions, share experiences, build relationships, seek mentorship and explore collaborations, urging them to apply the knowledge gained to strengthen their businesses.
Ayeni said women’s economic empowerment was not merely about inclusion but also about growth, innovation, prosperity and national development.
She expressed confidence that the workshop would provide participants with practical knowledge to improve their export readiness, strengthen their businesses and increase their participation in regional and global trade.
She added that women and youth entrepreneurs from Oyo State could build recognised brands in international markets with the right knowledge, networks, support systems and confidence to seize emerging opportunities.
Also speaking, the Assistant Comptroller of Customs and Acting Deputy Comptroller, Revenue, Oyo/Osun Area Command, Ibadan, Daniel Nwosu, urged exporters and their agents to comply with prescribed documentation requirements to ensure smooth transactions and avoid regulatory sanctions.
Nwosu listed the required documents to include the Single Goods Declaration (SGD) Form C2010, NEPC certificate, Nigeria Export Proceeds (NXP) form, Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI), Request for Information (RFI) and Non-Commercial Export (NCX) form.
Other requirements, he said, included certificates from relevant regulatory agencies such as the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, as well as shipping documents, bills of lading, bills of exit and attested final invoices.
He added that exporters whose consignments were destined for Europe were required to submit the EUR 1 certificate to access applicable trade incentives under the European Union’s preferential trade arrangements.
The Customs officer also identified items prohibited from export, including maize, unprocessed rubber latex and lumps, rough and sawn timber, scrap metals, artefacts and antiquities, endangered wildlife and their products, as well as raw hides and skins.
He explained that the restrictions were designed to protect local industries, create employment, prevent shortages of essential commodities and support the country’s foreign policy objectives.
Nwosu also warned that exporters must repatriate proceeds from oil exports within 90 days and non-oil exports within 180 days, adding that failure to comply could attract foreign exchange restrictions and blacklisting from export transactions.
He identified poor infrastructure, inconsistent government policies, limited access to bank credit and inadequate access to foreign markets as major obstacles to the success of export promotion schemes.
In his remarks, the Principal Commercial Officer in the Oyo State Ministry of Investment, Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Saheed Giwa, said the state government was strengthening its support for exporters and creating an enabling environment for businesses to compete internationally.
Giwa, who represented the Commissioner for Investment, Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Saliu Adelabu, said Governor Seyi Makinde had supported the establishment of an export department in the ministry to coordinate and strengthen export-related activities.
He also disclosed that the ministry was working on a proposal for a trade mission involving 20 SMEs to China to enable participating businesses to source equipment and materials, acquire technical knowledge and learn improved production techniques.
According to him, the proposed mission would include assistance with visa processing to facilitate the participation of selected businesses.
Giwa said the governor had also announced that Oyo State ranked third among the 36 states in the country in ease of doing business, adding that the government would continue to promote investment and support local enterprises.
The NEPC representative in Oyo State’s Trade Information Department, Tayo Adetola, urged women entrepreneurs to prioritise product quality, attractive packaging and effective branding to gain the confidence of international buyers.
She said packaging should reflect the nature and quality of products, describing it as an investment in a business’s reputation rather than an unnecessary expense.
Adetola added that appropriate packaging could strengthen brand identity, improve consumer confidence and ensure efficient logistics, urging entrepreneurs to understand buyers’ preferences and target-market requirements.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of Impact Hub Ibadan, Adebayo Olubobokun, urged entrepreneurs to seek training, professional guidance and institutional support to overcome operational challenges and expand their businesses.
Olubobokun, who said he had been involved in export business for nine years, noted that continuous learning was necessary for entrepreneurs to improve their operations and remain competitive.
He disclosed that Impact Hub had packaged training programmes, access to resources and free consultations to help business owners bridge the gap between their current operations and their desired business goals.
The Chief Trade Officer of Impact Hub Ibadan, Helen Oduyemi, called for collective efforts among the government, private sector organisations and entrepreneurs to promote business development.
Oduyemi thanked Governor Makinde for recognising the initiative and stressed that collaboration was necessary to empower entrepreneurs and expand economic opportunities. “We can do this as a community. We can get there together,” she said.
