Business Opportunities in Nigeria and Across the World

Mr. Babatunde Faleke is the Regional Coordinator, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Lagos. In this interview with ABIBAT AMINU he speaks on opportunities open to Nigerian exporters, especially under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Excerpts: IS THE AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (AGOA) STILL RELEVANT TODAY? Yes of course the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is United States Trade Act is still as relevant today as when it was first mooted. AGOA significantly enhances the U.S market access for 39 sub-Saharan African countries. The Act originally covered the eight year period from October 2000 to September 2008. But amendments signed to into law by former U.S President George Bush in July 2004 extended AGOA to 2015 and former President Barrack Obama further extended it beyond 2015. WHAT MAKES A COUNTRY ELIGIBLE UNDER AGOA? The Act authorised the U.S President to designate countries as eligible to receive the benefits of AGOA if they are d...

  The Federal Government has begun the implementation strategy to ensure that non-oil products are duly accepted in the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The products that are being considered for export under AGOA include sesame seed, cashew, tomatoes, oranges, cassava, spices and ginger. Others are shea butter, cow pea, banana, plantain, cement, clinker, leather and articles of leather, arts and handicrafts, specialty foods and cocoa. Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, the Deputy Director, Trade Department, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Friday. Abubakar said that the Minister, Okechukwu Enelamah, had given a directive to have the document as a fallout from the AGOA forum that took place in the US in July. On May 18, 2000, the US Congress passed AGOA into law. AGOA is a trade programme meant to establish stronger commercial ties between the US and sub-Saharan Africa. The act establishes a ...

Mr Hassan Bello, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), has said that the construction of $134million new Ibadan Inland Dry Port (IDP) would commence soon. Bello made the disclosure in Ibadan on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy call on Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state in his office. Bello had led Mr Dada Ahmed, a representative of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and representatives of CRCC China-Africa Construction Limited on the visit. Bello presented to the governor an Outline Business Case Compliance Certificate (OBC) of the project expected to be developed at Olorisa-Oko, the terminal end of the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Standard gauge railway line. Bello said that the construction company had approached the NSC to develop an Inland Dry Port (IDP) at Olorisa-Oko area of Oyo State at the end of the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway line. ‘‘We are working to ensure that no time is lost. We will ensure that the procurement proc...

Wood Export Business is a business yet fully tapped in Nigeria. In West Africa, Nigeria has a very rich supply of good and quality Hardwood and best practices of replanting of wood after cutting is now encouraged in Nigeria. In this report, we will be discussing on Doussi Wood Export Business as regards the context of this report. Wood Export is a multi-million dollars industry, but it should be done in the right way in order to get the right result. Let’s view a bit of Doussi Wood Profile. Botanical Name: Afzelia Africana DESCRIPTION The Tree height grows between 10 and 20 meters. Doussi Wood is famous for quality wood density, . their bark which has many medicinal uses and their nitrogen-rich leaves enrichs the soil. The final product is used to produce high quality exterior and interior joinery, flooring, doors and boat building. There is a great demand in Southern and Eastern parts of Asia for this type of timber. It is used for production in what can be descr...

Exporting of Non-Oil Commodity has been the dream of many aspiring exporters but one of the most perplexing hindering factor is the capital. To export any agricultural or mineral commodity, you need good capital and technical know how of the market. But right now, I am happy to inform you that you can start export of Agricultural Commodities, without having large capital or going through long documentation processes. Then,  the question you need to ask yourself is HOW DO I GO ABOUT IT? To be frank with you, so many people have read online information on how to start export on small scale but still do not know where to start because the information gathered from different sources online are contradicting. This has frustrated many to an inconclusive end. Some that are bold enough to start the business without having enough information at hand, come back to burn their fingers because of the half baked information they relied on before starting the business. Dear friend, ...

The benefit of Hardwood Charcoal goes beyond usage in restaurants and preparing barbequee grill. It is however, a first aid you need to have on you all the time, you might not know this but it is one of the most medicinal products you can have at home due to its poison extraction ability. In case you never gave it much attention, this is the time to do so. Here are the benefits of charcoal you never thought about: 1. Preventing Odour. Does your shoe smell bad? just get some charcoal and put it in them. Do you have any bad smell in your room? Drop some charcoal where you suspect the smell could be coming from. Does your fridge or freezer smell? Put a piece of charcoal in it. Do you have strong body odour? Just make a powder out of charcoal and use.Charcoal is very good at getting rid of bad smell. Ever wondered why your parents always scooped out the ash from the coal pot to pour in the hen coop or toilet before sweeping? That was to get rid of the odour. 2. Keeping Food Fresh...

Jatropha Curcas is a special and unique plant. It is often called physic nut, wonder plant or gold plant because of its high economic advantage. Curcas is a diesel bearing plant. It can withstand high degrees of aridity and so can be grown even in desert areas. Jatropha shrubs begin to fruit from the first year and come to full maturity within five years, with a lifespan of up to 45 years, delivering an estimated over 1,500 gallons of diesel per acre per annum.   It is a non-edible plant that can be cultivated in arid, semi-arid and fertile ground. The seeds when dried and processed contain about 40 per cent oil which could serve as bio-diesel that can be used in standard diesel engines or further processed into aviation fuel, bio-kerosene, bio-petrol and glycerol which is used as a sweetener by confectioners. The cake can be used in fertiliser production as it is a rich source of NPK, production of animal feeds, poultry feeds, insecticide, production of cooking gas an...