What The Gambia’s Study Tour to NEPC Reveals About Nigeria’s Export Future, by Kabir Abdulsalam

What The Gambia’s Study Tour to NEPC Reveals About Nigeria’s Export Future

By Kabir Abdulsalam

Often, the significance of a federal government go to is not in who shows up, however in what they have actually pertained to discover.

That believed entered your mind when I saw a post revealing that senior authorities from The Gambia had actually reached the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for a research study trip of Nigeria’s non‑oil export system.

This was not the normal African diplomatic regimen of courtesy calls, photos and speeches. The Gambian delegation featured a useful objective: to take a look at how Nigeria has actually constructed systems for promoting non‑oil exports– and to take home lessons that might enhance The Gambia’s own export facilities.

Amongst the authorities seen in pictures were the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, and the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President.

The most revealing information was what captured their attention.

They were especially thinking about NEPC’s digital platforms, particularly its Exporters’ Registration System, which they referred to as a design for The Gambia as it establishes a comparable platform.

This is more substantial than it appears. To federal government, digital registration might appear like another administrative reform. To an ambitious exporter, it can be the distinction in between a chance that feels available and one buried under documents, unpredictability and several governmental doors.

And this is where the story of the Gambian go to ends up being larger than the check out itself.

Nigeria’s Long Road to Non‑Oil Diversification

For years, Nigeria has actually discussed diversifying its economy far from petroleum. Federal governments have actually released programs, produced organizations and revealed rewards. The hard part has actually never ever been recognizing what Nigeria can export.

Nigeria has plenty to offer. The more difficult concern is whether the nation can develop an effective system around the individual who wishes to offer it.

Think about the journey of a Nigerian manufacturer with an exportable item. Discovering a foreign purchaser is just the start. The manufacturer should comprehend the target audience, satisfy quality requirements, get accreditation, browse paperwork, set up logistics and provide regularly.

Every weak point along that chain can turn an export chance into a lost client.

This is why export promo must not be lowered to the volume of products leaving Nigerian ports. It is likewise about the quality of the organizations guaranteeing those products.

The Numbers Show Promise– But Also a Challenge

Nigeria’s non‑oil exports supposedly increased to $6.1 billion in 2025, up from $5.46 billion the previous year. Export volume reached 8.02 million metric tonnes, and Nigerian items got in 210 markets throughout 120 nations.

These are motivating numbers. They must not be misinterpreted for a success lap or evidence that Nigeria has actually resolved its export issue.

For an economy as big and varied as Nigeria’s, these figures are much better comprehended as proof of what stays possible.

The chance is massive. From Kano’s farming markets to Aba’s production clusters, from processed products to strong minerals and innovative items, Nigeria has no scarcity of prospective exports.

What it has actually fought with is turning that possible into a foreseeable export pipeline.

NEPC’s Role– and Why It Matters

This is where the work of NEPC under its Executive Director, Nonye Ayeni, ends up being appropriate.

The genuine significance of an export‑promotion company is not how outstanding its head office looks or the number of conferences it goes to. It is whether its systems make it simpler for a Nigerian company to move from producing for the regional market to contending worldwide.

That needs organizations that comprehend exporters, offer functional market intelligence, decrease preventable governmental challenges, promote requirements and link companies to chances beyond Nigeria.

The Gambian delegation’s interest in NEPC’s digital registration system is a little however informing example of how such institutional enhancements can have effect beyond Nigeria’s borders.

A Lesson for Africa

For too long, advancement understanding has actually been thought of as something that streams in one instructions– from Europe, North America or Asia to Africa.

African nations progressively have experiences worth sharing with one another.

The Gambia’s interest in Nigeria’s export‑promotion facilities need to be viewed as a chance for two‑way knowing, not a statement that Nigeria has actually gotten here.

This difference matters. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will eventually check African organizations on specifically this point. Signing trade arrangements is something. Gearing up companies to utilize them is another.

A continental market can not be constructed by treaties alone. It needs exporters who comprehend markets, items that fulfill requirements, digital systems that lower friction and organizations efficient in assisting services through the complex journey from regional production to worldwide trade.

This is where NEPC’s function as the long-term secretariat of the ECOWAS Trade Promotion Organisations Network ends up being especially crucial.

The exchange with The Gambia can enter into a bigger local discussion about what works, what does not and what African trade‑promotion companies can gain from one another.

The Real Test for Nigeria

Nigeria’s export reforms need to not be determined by the number of delegations check out Abuja to study them.

They need to be determined by the Nigerian exporter in Kano who discovers a purchaser abroad, the processor in Kaduna who moves beyond offering raw products, the producer in Aba who protects a repeat worldwide consumer, or the young business owner who finds that exporting is not scheduled for big corporations.

That is where policy satisfies truth.

The Gambian authorities might return home with concepts for a digital exporters’ registration system. Nigeria needs to continue constructing the much bigger community that makes such a system helpful.

Due to the fact that registration alone does not produce exports. Competitive items do.
Trusted requirements do. Market gain access to does. Effective logistics do. Constant federal government assistance does. And eventually, capable Nigerian companies do.

That is where policy satisfies truth– in the items that reach brand-new markets, business that protect repeat worldwide purchasers, the tasks produced and, progressively, in African neighbours asking a basic concern:

How did you do it?

Kabir composes from Suleja, Niger State. He can be reached by means of: