The Federal Government on Wednesday said Nigerian agribusinesses, especially those in the cowpeas and sesame seeds value chains, are set to improve their food safety standards and increase in-country value addition, enabling them to access new markets, with the launch of a project by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The government also said in a press release that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment will lead the $1.2 million project on ‘Improving SPS Compliance to Boost Export Capacity of Nigeria’, funded by the WTO’s Standards and Trade Development Facility, in close collaboration with ITC and WTO, as well as the private sector.
Nigeria has 40 million small businesses, responsible for roughly 8 in 10 jobs, and many are agribusinesses.
As Africa’s most populous economy, what happens in this West African country has regional and global implications, including for the Sustainable Development Goals and the AU’s Agenda 2063.
WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and ITC Deputy Executive Director Dorothy Tembo are in the country for the launch of the project and to announce other initiatives, the statement revealed.
Supporting trade-led growth
Other upcoming initiatives include a WTO-World Bank Digital Trade Initiative for Africa; the Cotton Development Assistance involving several donor agencies; WTO workshops on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights and on customs valuation; and the launch of the Nigeria chapter of the WTO-ITC Women Exporters in Digital Trade.
Following the recent launch of the global Women Exporters in the Digital Economy Fund on the sidelines of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, Nigeria’s women exporters will soon be able to apply to the Fund for support to grow their businesses.
ITC is also working with the ministry to put in place a trade intelligence portal to help small businesses, business support organizations and policymakers access the information they need to understand market and export-related conditions, among other trade-related data.
Building on existing initiatives ITC has been implementing two initiatives in the country, including a Japan-funded project supporting producers of processed food in Nigeria’s Imo State, especially women, youth, and displacement-affected people, to use e-commerce effectively.
The ITC flagship programme on women and trade, SheTrades, is also active in the country.
Through the ITC SheTrades Nigeria Hub, hosted by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, last year alone, over 250 women entrepreneurs received training and accessed resources to help them connect to new markets.
The statement added: “Nigeria heartily welcome today’s launch of the Standards Trade Development Facility (STDF) a global partnership which works to strengthen food safety, animal, and plant health capacity in developing countries by encouraging the use of good practices to facilitate safe trade worldwide.
“This focus empowers us to put the best of Nigeria on the global market, boosting safety and security for our people and opening doors for our businesses.
“The Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment and the Nigerian government is confident that the programmes that will be implemented through this facility would complement efforts towards ensuring the safety, integrity and marketability of Nigeria’s goods and services, in line with country’s National Quality Policy.
“It will also complement Nigeria’s efforts towards addressing our food and livelihood security issues.
“But more importantly, with respect to Nigeria in particular, the country appreciates WTO for the warm reception accorded to Nigeria delegation at MC13 and commend the WTO and ITC for extending their vital Trade Capacity Building programs to Nigeria, which is why we are all gathered in Abuja, March 12, 2024.
“We as a country welcome the commitment of the WTO and the ITC towards the delivery of other Trade Capacity Building Programmes that have been announced today. I am excited that Nigeria is one of the pilots for the Joint WTO – World Bank Digital Trade for Africa (DTA) project where Nigeria will be supported with digital connectivity infrastructure, digitalization across the public and private sectors in Nigeria, and the development of policies, strategies, and tools to enhance Nigeria’s connectivity to the Digital world. Indeed, in Africa over the period of 2019 – 2023, the World Bank has delivered 72 digitalization projects for a total amount of USD 9 billion in 37 African countries.
“Therefore, we are very pleased that this support is coming to Nigeria as Digital Trade presents the Nigerian economy with significant opportunities to boost growth, create jobs and reduce poverty.”
