The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has charged non-oil exporters in Plateau State to accelerate their export competitiveness to make their mark in the global export space.

The organisation gave the charge on Thursday in Jos during its Strategic Partnership on SME Export Financing seminar, organised in collaboration with commercial banks in the state.

The programme is aimed at sensitising small and medium entreprises (SMEs) on ways to access finances to boost their export businesses.

The North Central Zonal Coordinator of NEPC, Juliet Onmoke, who gave the advice, urged the exporters to do their best in maximising profits in their businesses.

“We continually call on the non-oil exporters in the state to increase what they are doing, add value to their craft and basically up their game and expand production. When you are talking of expanding production, that is where finances come in.

“That is why we are calling on all the financial institutions to talk to them on how to assess finances if they need to borrow money from them, because we want them to double their export. Our mantra is double your export; we want the volume and value of exports on the Plateau to increase.

“So we encourage them to add value to their products and expand their production, thereby growing or doubling whatever they are producing. And in doing that, of course, they are going to need finances, and that is why we have people that are talking to them on how to assess finances to grow their business today,” Ms Onmoke said.

Similarly, the Executive Director of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, reiterated the importance of partnership with commercial banks for SME financing to achieve global competitiveness.

“Today’s partnership is not merely about financing. It is about creating the financial architecture that enables Nigerian enterprises to compete internationally. It is about transforming export potential into export performance and export performance into sustainable national prosperity.

“Over the last two years, the Nigerian export promotion council has deliberately repositioned itself from being primarily an export promotion institution to becoming a strategic facilitator of export competitiveness.

“Our approach has been guided by simple principles; exporters cannot compete globally without a complete ecosystem comprising market intelligence, quality assurance, capacity, development, trade facilitation, and affordable and appropriate finance. The results of this deliberate strategy are becoming increasingly evident,” Ms Ayeni stated.

Earlier, in their goodwill messages, representatives of the Plateau State Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (PLASMEDA) and the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Salihu Nyalun, urged participants to key into the sessions to make the most of the benefits from them. 

(NAN)