In a bid to drive and sustain the export business in Nigeria, Lagos Business School (LBS) recently partnered with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Fidelity Bank to launch the Export Leadership Initiative (ELI) Programme. This programme which has been put together by the three institutions promises to equip exporters with the requisite knowledge and skills needed to build successful export businesses.
Speaking at the press conference, the MD/CEO of Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, stressed the need to support exporters and micro, small and medium businesses as part of ways to diversify the Nigerian economy away from oil. He noted that exporters and MSMEs in the value chain line need more than financing which is one of the reasons for launching the educative programme targeted at improving the capacity of the exporters.
Dr Frank Ojadi, LBS Faculty and Logistics and Supply Chain expert, explained that the ELI programme will be in two parts, one for established exporters and another for fresh and intending exporters.
On his own part, the chief executive of the NEPC, Segun Awolowo, emphasised the importance of training as a way of boosting exports, noting that Australia had improved the number of exporters from 4,000 to 50,000 in one month with a similar kind of training. Awolowo who said that the number of exporters registering with the council has been on the rise since the beginning of the month, called on exporters to focus more on finished goods as a value adding strategy.
