NEPC launches youth export programme

 

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has launched the Youth for Export Programme, to empower the youth with skills and expertise to export.

Speaking at the launch, the Executive Director of NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak, said the programme was aimed at harnessing the untapped potential of Nigerian youths to become export champions.

He mentioned that although different entrepreneurship projects targeted at youth employment had been initiated by successive governments, they had not yielded the desired result due to numerous challenges, including access to finance, skill gap, among others.

He said, “It is in response to these challenges that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council initiated the Youth for Export Programme, which is being launched today.

“The programme was conceived to address these key constraints by mainstreaming youth participation in the non-oil export sector, as part of the council’s Export for Survival campaign.”

He stated that the Youth for Export Programme was, therefore, designed to empower young Nigerians by providing them with the necessary skills and knowledge to engage in export activities.

According to Yakusak, this is aimed at building the capacity of the youth population by addressing export skill gaps, standards, and quality requirements for export products, documentation and procedural issues as well as the technicalities involved in trading offshore.

He stated that the Youth for Export Programme was, therefore, designed to empower young Nigerians by providing them with the necessary skills and knowledge to engage in export activities.

According to Yakusak, this is aimed at building the capacity of the youth population by addressing export skill gaps, standards, and quality requirements for export products, documentation and procedural issues as well as the technicalities involved in trading offshore.

“Annually we are targeting about 2,000 youths through a Public Private Partnership with Zeenab Goods, who are the operators of the Domestic Export Warehouse in China, as we intend to provide training and mentorship on the export process, market research, product development, and access to funding and markets,” he stated.