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By Chinelo Obogo
The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (nahco aviance), has renewed its commitment to boosting the nation’s non-oil revenues. The Company gave this assurance this week when it held a capacity building forum on export processing for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos.
The Group Executive Director, Business & Business Development, NAHCO Plc, Prince Saheed Lasisi, who spoke at the event, said NAHCO has keyed into and is contributing to the Federal Government’s realisation of the vision of a 1 trillion-dollar economy by 2030. “A major focus of the government in achieving this goal is commodity exports. And to record the needed volume in commodity exports, the nation needs the small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” Lasisi said.
He pointed out however that SMEs needed to build capacity in export processing because exporting agro products and commodities requires strong logistics and handling backbone and that NAHCO sits at the centre of the export value chain. He explained that the company serves as the link between exporters, airlines, and regulators.
In this role, NAHCO will provide necessary guidance in cargo handling, including in areas of the quality of Product preservation, regulatory compliance, on-time flight connections, and acceptance requirements by international buyers. Prince Lasisi, in his presentation, also detailed the specialized packaging required for perishable and sensitive items, saying: “We have provided, with FAAN’s approval, a proper packaging facility in the airport area. Our packaging area is in the NAHCO Export Packaging and Processing Centre (NEPPC), the only one of its kind in Nigeria, and we started operations in July last year. NAHCO also has an Export Desk that provides support for exporters.”
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In his paper at the event, Chairman, NACCIMA Export Group, Kola Awe Esq, said NACCIMA has put in place initiatives designed to assist smaller businesses. He said, “We have created the NACCIMA Export Support Centre for MSMEs. The average exporter faces a lot of challenges. A lot of exporters are finding it difficult to scale their businesses because of so many challenges. Multinationals are faring better than MSMEs because they have the financial might to take on any issues they might face in exporting.”
The Director General, NACCIMA, Sola Obadimu, had, while welcoming participants to the event stated that the collaboration between NAHCO and NACCIMA highlights the importance of private sector partnership in Nigerian agro products growth.
“Today, MSMEs account for 80 to 90% of businesses and they employ more than 80% of the workforce. Yet, their contribution to exports remains mostly disproportionate. If more SMEs embrace export, we can change the narrative. Addressing the barriers that SMEs face requires cooperation from various stakeholders. Nigeria’s economy has a lot of potential and the activities of NACCIMA would contribute to achieving our goals,” he said.
According Obadimu, while agriculture contributes to over 20% of Nigeria’s GDP, agro based exports still represent only a modest share of our local export earnings, likely due to procedural bottlenecks, lack of adequate export knowledge, weak export readiness, logistics challenges, and limited access to structured export support.
Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of Polaris Bank, represented by the Bank’s Head of Commercial Banking, Ladi Garba, emphasized the importance of non-oil exports. She detailed the risks associated with the nation’s current fiscal structure pointing out that this structural imbalance exposes the country’s economy to external shocks and global oil price voltage.
In his remarks regarding the Nigerian government’s initiatives to boost national exports, President, Aviation Cargo Committee, Mr. Ikechi Uko, emphasized the necessity of air logistics. He observed, air freight is very important for the growth of SMEs. According to him, “A lot of aircraft come into Nigeria full but they leave empty. The government is trying to organise air export business so that aircrafts can leave the country filled with Nigerian goods.”
