Diversifying Nigeria’s Economy via Export Skills and Quality Infrastructure
Maximising international trade by training exporters in standards and certifications and strengthening national quality infrastructure.
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Testimonial
“The government and private sector will be able to set up quality testing centres, such that approved goods would be of international standard.”
Niyi Adebayo
The Minister of Industry Trade and Investment
Boosting Trade
Building skills to encourage investment and improve the business climate
With $26bn expected to be wiped from Nigeria's main export commodity, oil, the government needed to diversify the national economy.
Nigeria has increased international demand for its manufacturing, services and agriculture outputs, by training small and medium sized enterprises in export standards for the UK and EU, and developing a respected quality accreditation system.
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The Challenge
Overcoming Nigeria's quality issues to diversify and strengthen their economy
The Nigerian government wanted to make organisations more competitive to improve their economy and strengthen their presence as trusted trading partners across the globe.
Limited capacity to meet technical standards and quality requirements meant Nigerian SMEs faced challenges accessing international markets.
With the value of oil exports set to tumble, it was vital to close the skills gap and create a strong national quality infrastructure with the capacity to improve goods and services and remove barriers to international trade.
Success would mean rebalancing the economy through more growth in the manufacturing and services sectors, and reviving agriculture.
The Solution
A stronger quality infrastructure, and training for a new generation of leaders
Driving international trade for Nigeria by boosting confidence in quality
Experts from BSI’s International Projects (IP) team were brought in to launch a National Quality Infrastructure Graduate Fellowship Program (NQI-GF), to transform the skill base of Nigeria’s quality infrastructure system and develop its future leaders.
In collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), BSI also provided a programme of technical but interactive training for SME exporters, covering international export requirements, standards and certification measures for exports to UK and EU markets.
Improved talent pipeline and a more resilient economy
Our two projects have strengthened Nigeria’s quality infrastructure, developing Nigeria’s future leaders and helping businesses to increase exports.
Stimulated growth through international best practices for agriculture, manufacturing and services
Created job opportunities for young Nigerians, reducing unemployment and promoting prosperity
Engaged 31 SMEs with training in key export principles and standards.
Provided key talent with in-depth knowledge about quality infrastructure's role in trade and export
The impact
There are 41 million SMEs in Nigeria, for whom it's vital to access the billions of pounds in annual trade with markets such as the UK.
40%
of SMEs reached in the programme were women owned
£5.1 billion
worth of total trade in goods and services between UK and Nigeria (year to June 2019)
Testimonial
“The training and programme […] has equipped me with skills and knowledge to impact the people and the environment at large.”
Delegate
National Quality Infrastructure Graduate Fellowship Program
Why BSI
Experts in unlocking prosperity and boosting competitiveness
For over 20 years, BSI’s International Projects (IP) team has been helping governments improve trade policy-making, unlock prosperity and boost private sector competitiveness.
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We've already helped governments in 100+ countries
Partner with us to access ‘best-in-class’ expertise on trade promotion, regulatory compliance and export readiness.
