How to Start food export business: The Nigerian government, passing through The Nigerian Export Promotion Council is continuously encouraging Nigerian agriculturalists, industrialists and businessmen to export more non-oil products in a bid to grow the nation’s export index, create employment opportunities, and in the long run stabilize the nation’s economy.
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The great potentials of non-oil exports are to a very large extent, untapped as a result of excessive dependence on crude oil exports which generate an estimate of over 90% of Nigeria’s exports.
Following the recent resolve by the Nigerian government to give more support to agro-allied products, the costs of exporting homestead products and other related products from Nigeria will be favorable, hence, making the export market for agro-allied products more promising.
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From insights, the non-oil products Nigeria exports most are cocoa, palm oil, cassava, rubber, fleece, cotton, wood logs (Iroko and Mahogany), groundnut oil, cashew, garlic etc.
Step by Step Instructions To Start Food Exportation
One of the best approaches to begin this business is to acquire the knowledge on how domestic foodstuff business functions, don’t simply hop into foodstuff exportation with just the training gotten from seminars. That may not be enough. Moreover, on the off chance that you begin with domestic foodstuff store and marketing, negative changes in the international market or exchange rates would not have much effect on you financially and mentally.
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BELOW ARE THE STEPS TO START FOOD EXPORTATION:1
1. Acquire training (attend seminars, join forums, read diaries etc.)
2. Get the necessary documents
3. Decide on the product to export
4. Register your business or use a registered cooperative society name
5. Package your product to international standards
5. Search for clients
The major requirements for the exportation of goods from Nigeria to foreign countries depend to a large extent, on the products in question. In this post is a detailed, 3-step guide for a successful exportation of agro-allied products.
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To export any products from Nigeria, there is need to know everything about export business and most importantly the goods you wish to export, so you should do a survey to equip yourself with all the necessary information needed. You should answer the following questions:
Which product is sought after outside Nigeria, and is readily available in Nigeria? Could I easily source them and not disappoint my overseas customers waiting for me? Is the demand for the goods sufficiently high to be worth going into the business?
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How would I establish foreign contacts and customers in order to rapidly sell my goods outside Nigeria? Which nation or countries will be the best to export my goods because of appeal by customers? Do I have the ability to advertise my products overseas in countries of popularity?
What means of transportation would it be advisable for me to employ to export my goods?
What is the cost (export duties and levies) of exporting my products from Nigeria? Will I afford to use flight to export perishable goods knowing it might be capital intensive?
Legal requirements. What are those conditions my company and/or my goods must meet before they are cleared? Who would clears my goods prior to their transportation outside the shores of Nigeria and on what are the conditions attached to this?
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STEP 2: REGISTER YOUR BUSINESS.
To give your business the required prestige and credibility, there’s a need to register your business. This can be achieved basically by visiting The Corporate Affairs Commissions (CAC).
Remember that you will be dealing with a ton of foreigners, and in the quest to convince them to patronize you, they may need to check out your business with CAC and if CAC doesn’t have any information on your company, they will assume you are a fake.
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It’s often said that trust is not a business challenge overseas, but rather in Nigeria, trust is an issue because of Nigeria’s “not very great” image abroad. In this way, there is a need to register your business on the off chance that you wish to export goods to foreign countries from Nigeria in order to win customers’ trusts.
There may likewise be the need to demonstrate your foreign partners your Certificate of Incorporation to win their trust and work with you without fear. Additionally, you need to register with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) since you are going into non-oil exportation business.
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STEP 3: SEARCH FOR CUSTOMERS/CLIENTS.
As it is often said in businesses that, “Customer is king”. Presently you are in the business, you ought to realize that no business ever survives without customers as most businesses depend on them to in any event break even. Thus, you should search for the correct means to search and win customers.
Design a website and advertise it on web search engines like Google. When you advertise your website on platforms, for example, Google, it increases your chances of being discovered online when overseas customers search for exporters in Nigeria, for instance when a customer abroad searches for “cocoa exporting companies in Nigeria”, in the event that you are into cocoa exporting business, your company will naturally appear on the choices on Google.
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They will tap on the link and read more about your company. This is a snappy approach to get clients. Additionally go to people who are into comparative business and collaborate with them. Some of them may give you the correct connection especially in the event that they don’t have the ability to meet levels of popularity of their customers.
You should have a practical website that will show every one of your products, contact numbers, email addresses, and all the necessary information a client needs to get in touch with you. Therefore, searching for customers from the Internet and meeting people are key on the off chance that you wish to export goods to foreign countries from Nigeria.
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DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR COMMERCIAL EXPORT (NXP) GOODS FROM NIGERIA
As someone who needs to go into full-time foodstuff exportation or whatever other processed or unprocessed stuff, you need to get the below-listed documents. In any case, for someone who needs to begin little, you shouldn’t experience this initial thorough process yet you ought to have someone who will receive your goods overseas.
- Completed NXP forms (six copies)
- Certificate of Incorporation.
- Proforma Invoice
- Letter of Credit
- NEPC Registration Certificate
Other Requirements Needed to Export Agro Products to Foreign Countries from Nigeria:
1.A completed form of NXP issued by Nigerian Custom Service.
2.A professional forma invoice. An estimated invoice sent by a seller to a buyer in advance of shipment or delivery of goods. It contains information, for example, transportation charges and amount of goods with their values.
3.Sales agreement and NEPC Registration Certificate (Where applicable).
4.Relevant Certificate of Quantity as issued by relevant agencies.
5.Shipping documents like bill of exit, bill of landing etc.
REVISE DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED FOR EXPORT TRANSACTION
1.Bill of lading
2.Certificate of origin
3.Commercial invoice
4.Single goods declaration (SGD)
5.Nigeria export proceed (NXP) form
6.Clean certificate of inspection (CCI)
7.Packing rundown
Documents are to be presented after shipment. Documentation requirements for FORM M and NXP processing remain the same and in conclusion, the time frame for export processing has been reduced to 48hrs which likewise depends on the readiness of every one of your documentations.
How to Start food export business in Nigeria
THINGS TO EXPORT (CAN BE SOURCED IN ANY LOCAL MARKET IN NIGERIA)
- Avacado,
- Bitter Kola,
- Bitter Leaves,
- Black Pepper,
- Dried Prawns,
- Dry Fish,
- Garri,
- Ground Beans,
- Habanero Pepper,
- Kola Nut,
- Locust Brown Beans,
- Melon,
- Ogbono,
- Okro,
- Pea Nuts,
- Pepper-fresh/frozen,
- Pepper-ground,
- Pepper-knob (tatashe), etc
- Pepper-little hot,
- Plantain flour,
- Plantain,
- Snail,
- Vegetable-Ugwu,
- Water Leaves,
- White Beans,
- Yam Flour,
How to Start food export business in Nigeria
CHALLENGES
Some of the setbacks Nigerians foodstuff exporters face include:
1.Stringent Sanitary and PhytoSanitary (SPS) requirements.
2.High cost of exportation and poor trade help system,
3.Difficulty in accessing finance and credit facilities by new exporters.
4.Lack of adequate training and modern equipment in processing value – added rural products.
How to Start food export business in Nigeria
5.Lack of essential information about doing business in the US market coupled with laziness in favor of entrepreneur to read and explore useful information
6.Most importantly, Packaging and labeling.
Nigerians who are ready to begin this business ought to keep themselves informed with current information on documentation both home and abroad.
There is need for more exporters as few Nigerians who are currently in foodstuff exportation sector can’t meet the demand of a huge number of yearning Africans in US and UK.