- August 4, 2018
- Posted by: koinoniaglobal
- Category: Uncategorized
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The BEST Centre of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with Koinonia Ventures
Limited, have taken the bull by the horns in the efforts to develop and promote Services Exports from
Nigeria. On Tuesday, 10th July, 2018, the BEST Centre and Koinonia Ventures Limited delivered a free
training to thirty (30) selected individuals and firms under a programme titled HARNESSING THE
OPPORTUNITIES IN SERVICES EXPORTS.
With Nigeria’s service exports sector rated to have contributed over 5 billion US dollars to Nigeria’s
export performance in 2017 alone, (source: ITC), it is clear that this initiative by the Abuja Chamber of
Commerce and Industry and Koinonia Ventures Limited, could not have come at a more opportune time.
According to the International Trade Centre, Services Export constitutes the largest sector in the global
economy, accounting for 70% of global GDP, 60% of global employment and 46% of global exports
measured in value-added terms.
Speaking at the workshop which held at the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Airport Road,
Abuja, the Lead Facilitator of Koinonia Ventures Limited, Mr. Olufemi Boyede, CITP affirmed that
Services Export holds great potentials for a developing country like Nigeria and continues to attract huge
foreign investments. He emphasized the need for existing and intending services exporters to boost their understanding of the opportunities in the sector in order to effectively equip themselves to
harness the inherent opportunities.
Mr. Boyede, a Certified International Trade Professional, urged the Federal Government, through the
appropriate agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of statistics, to pay
priority attention to services exports from Nigeria in order to design an appropriate framework to
capture the huge volume and value of trade presently going on in the sector. He acknowledged and
commended the volume of work already done in this direction, by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council,
but suggested that a lot still needs to be done to mainstream Services Exports into Nigeria’s economy.
He submitted that Services Exports is not currently documented (no NXPs for Services Exporters to fill,
no incentives specifically geared to promote Services exports, etc.), and called on NEPC to vigorously
pursue its efforts in this direction so that Nigeria can rightly capture revenue earnings therefrom as part
of Nigeria’s export proceeds under services trade statistics.
At the end of the training, participants made strong commitment to position themselves to meet the
global standard in harnessing Nigeria’s service export ranging from entertainment (Nollywood and
music), sport, consultancy services, tourism, and financial management, among others.
To accelerate services export commitments, The Director of BEST Centre, Ms. Victoria Akai, assured that
the BEST centre of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry on her part will continue to organize
Services Export-focused capacity building programs and influence the Federal Government of Nigeria
through relevant MDAs to design the required framework to capture Services Exports and develop
incentives for registered Services Exporters.