The Blueprint To Nigeria’s Non-oil Export Renascence: Part-7-The Proficiency 

This is the seventh in the series of articles being written to advise the President of the federal republic of Nigeria on what must be done in order to grow the non-export volume to match and even surpass that of crude oil and gas exports. In this edition, the focus will be on the policies relating to boosting the proficiencies that is skills and competence of the exporters to effectively and efficiently manage their export business transactions in Nigeria. 

This policy is therefore aimed at growing the non-oil export volume by increasing the capacity of exporters particularly intending exporters, to manage the export business in order to become successful and sustainable. This policy on improving the proficiency of intending and current exporters is aimed at growing non-oil export volume by growing their export business management skills. This involves the deployment of capacity building programs in export business management to boost the skills of the members of management team of export business in the country. 

The important aspects of the recommended policy to boost the capacity of the businesses to effectively and efficiently manage export business should include export products management, export market development, export quality management, export contract order management (export logistics and supply chain management) export documentation management, export pricing management, export payments & foreign exchange management, 

export risk management, managing trade finance instruments and understanding export cultural intelligence. 

The most important factor in export business is the item of export. This is what creates the demand and also determines the payment. It is therefore important for an exporter to be adequately equipped through capacity building. This will help them to have a good understanding of the product particularly the parameters of the quality specifications, the pitfalls to avoid during shipment to destination and packaging requirements to keep the goods in optimal condition throughout the journey to the destination market. 

Many business people believe that one if the major challenges in export business is getting buyers abroad. This is why the policy on the proficiency of exporters in the country must cover capacity building on export market development is highly indispensable. This will help the exporter to understand the export market entry strategies, the pros and cons on various export marketing channels, how to maximize international trade fairs, the protocols to follow in getting buyers abroad among other things.

One of the major challenges of exporters has been the risk of not getting paid after shipment and this can be due to the receipt of substandard goods by the importer. This is why this policy must include capacity building on export quality management. This will include understanding the product quality specifications, the requisite certification requirements for the product, the quality control measure and how to arrange for pre-shipment inspection of the goods. 

In some cases, one of the things that could cause delay in payment is the export contract or order management coupled with the export logistics and supply chain management. Having completed the production and ensure quality control with good packaging, the buyer might still be unable to get the expected payment if the shipment is not delivered within the period agreed with the buyer. This is why this policy on capacity building must include export contract order order management and logistics and supply chain management. 

International trade is largely a business of documentation and thus explains the reason why a buyer can pay for the goods ahead of arrival at the destination port. However, the document must be complete and devoid of discrepancies when compared with the signed contract and letter of credit received from the importer’s bank. International chambers of commerce reported that 70% of documents presented globally under a letter of credit transactions are discrepant. This underscores the need of the policy on exporter’s proficiency to cover export documentation 

The policy proficiency of intending and current exporters should also cover capacity building in pricing of export products. This is due to the fact that the goal of the export business is to be profitable because this is necessary for sustainability of the business. The profitability of the business is dependent on competitiveness and this is based on costing and pricing of the export product. 

One of the major risks associated with export business is the payment default risk. This therefore necessitates the importance of understanding the payment method in export business. This policy on proficiency should therefore include understanding the transaction dynamics, merit and demerit of each method and how to mitigates of risks inherent in each payment method trade finance instruments. In addition to this, the policy must be deliberate about equipping exporters with proficiency required in the mitigation of other export business risk particularly the risk of reject of goods anat the destination port and foreign exchange risks. 

The concept of cultural intelligence has gained much attention in recent years. This is due to the critical role it plays in the success or failure of a business that is trying to enter new markets abroad. Therefore, the policy on of government on the proficiency of exporters needs to cover cultural intelligence relating for the strategic exports market that the government wants to target for export of Nigerian goods 

In conclusion, I firmly believe that if the policies regarding exporter competencies discussed in this article are taken into account and fully implemented by the government, it will significantly enhance the capabilities of both current and prospective exporters. This, in turn, will help the government achieve its goal of increasing the volume of non-oil exports in the country, ultimately positioning this sector as a major source of foreign exchange earnings for the nation.