•He Is Now A Global Trade Expert
•Floats AWOLOWO Strategies
Segun Awolowo is now a Global Trade expert. Following the conclusion of his tenure as ED/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), he is now working as a Global Trade Expert, via the platform, What is this new company all about? Awolowo Strategies. Awolowo Strategies will offer services such as Trade Negotiation, Trade Facilitation, Trade Skills Development, Incubation & Innovation, Deal Brokering, among others.
With over two decades of experience in the Public and Private sector, he has acquired a lot of knowledge, experience, and built an unparalleled network which makes him invaluable.
He has occupied strategic roles both locally and internationally, serving under 4 Nigerian Presidents namely: President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, President Goodluck E. Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari. He served as Secretary for Social Development, and then Secretary of Transportation in the Federal Capital Territory Administration where he played a significant role in evolving a master plan for an efficient Urban transportation system in the FCT, and later he served as Secretary for Area Councils, FCT. He has also served as Special Assistant to the President on Traditional Institutions, Legal Due Diligence and Legal Matters under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s Administration.
Olusegun Awolowo is the innovator and ground breaker for the Zero Oil Plan initiative, an economic blueprint which synthesizes into the grand scheme of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to diversify Nigeria’s economy from the backbone of oil.
His last year as ED/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) saw him implement revolutionary initiatives to grow Nigeria’s non-oil export ecosystem, through the legacy Export Expansion Facility Programme (EEFP)
He served as the Country Head of Nigeria’s Delegation to the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, providing key mechanisms to ensure effective public-private partnership in this programme and its monitoring by member states. He also served on the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Advisory Board and led Nigeria’s presentation at international trade facilitation symposia. He is the Pioneer President of the ECOWAS Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Network, which ensures the equalisation of opportunities for all ECOWAS member States to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
In his new role, he would leverage his conflict resolution capital built over the years, to mediate between corporate entities and governments. More importantly he would assist corporate entities, governments and diplomatic envoys who are looking to achieve set goals in Nigeria and Africa. Drawing from his experience in policy, legislation, implementation and enforcement, he would work to promote policies that enable improved global trade. There is no doubt that many people want to do business in Nigeria and Africa, but struggle to find the right person to make it happen, this is the very reason why the Awolowo Strategies has been set up. Working with the Awolowo Strategies will guarantee desired results.
As ED/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) he implemented revolutionary initiatives to grow Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Ecosystem, through the legacy Export Expansion Facility Programme (EEFP). The EEFP is the pilot implementation of Awolowo’s audacious Zero Oil Plan, which states that “Nigeria must survive in a world economy where she no longer sells oil”
Under the EEFP, the following were achieved:
(1) The Export Development Fund (EDF), was activated for the first time in NEPC’s over 40 years of existence. Over 970 existing and prospective non-oil exporters received grants from the freshly activated EDF.
(2) To enable NEPC better deliver on its mandate, the following were implemented:
(a) 170 NEPC staff were trained to acquire monitoring and evaluation skills, to ensure that all NEPC activities, are constantly monitored and evaluated, to achieve alignment with the council’s strategic objectives.
(b) To equip NEPC to be better positioned to promote intra-Africa trade, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), 50 NEPC staff were trained in Swahili and 30 NEPC staff were trained in AfCFTA protocols.
(c) 60 NEPC staff were trained by the International Trade Centre (ITC) on supply chain
(d) Several efforts were also made to drive the digital transformation of NEPC. Over
50 laptops were purchased, internet infrastructure upgrade and digitisation of the council’s information
(3) To build the capacity of stakeholders responsible for growing Nigeria’s non-oil exports, the following were implemented;
(a) 2000 farmers were trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
(b) 400 MSMEs were trained in market access
(c) 4 research institutes: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), and National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI) were supported with grants totalling N200 million to enhance their participation and contributions to the non-oil exports sector.
(4) To strengthen Nigeria’s non-oil export aggregation infrastructure the following were implemented;
(a) To reduce cost of production, 9 Common Facility Centres (CFCs)/Human Capacity Development Centres (HCDC) in the apparel, shea butter processing, cashew nut processing and leather processing sectors are being set up across the nation.
(b) To reduce the cost of storing horticultural products such as ginger and hibiscus, five Fumigation Chambers are being set up in the North West and North East, as these are the centres of production
(c) In a bid to reduce congestion at the ports eight Domestic Export Warehouses (DEWs) are being set up all over the country
(d) Last but certainly not the least, to support the growth of fresh produce export, five Cold Storage Facilities are being set up at the five international airports across the country.
(5) To facilitate more trade particularly for MSMEs the following were implemented;
(a) A total of N1.2 billion was disbursed as grants for the setting up of seven Export
Trade Houses, in the Middle East, West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Far East (China), Southern Africa and North America.
(b) In partnership with stakeholders such as the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and Afreximbank, the foundation was laid for the establishment of Nigeria’s first Export Trading Company
(c) The foundation was laid for the use of factoring, as an innovative mechanism for trade finance
(6) To expedite the penetration of Nigerian goods and services in the Zero Oil Plan priority markets the following were implemented;
(a) The development of the online Export Nigeria Market Place
(b) The foundation was laid for the stimulation & formalisation of Okerete – Kilibo and Jibia – Maradi border markets
(c) The foundation was laid for the promotion of Geographical Indications (GIs) policy framework
(d) The development of the Zero Oil Services Pack, the first comprehensive guide towards developing the services sector value chain which will help identify and articulate opportunities for the export of services for Nigerian businesses
(e) The development of Zero of Oil Release 2.0, the upgraded version of the Zero Oil Plan.
(f) The development of thought leadership materials and studies that will serve as strategic document towards implementing value chain analysis for 5 of the Category A products according to the Zero Oil plan
(g) The development of thought leadership materials and studies that will serve as strategic document towards implementing value chain analysis for 5 of the Category B products according to the Zero Oil plan
(h) In partnership with the National Action Committee (NAC) on AfCFTA, an online marketplace to position Nigerian MSMEs to take advantage of the AfCFTA was developed
(i) In partnership with Export and Sell, an Amazon Consolidated Export System was developed to enable Nigerian exporters to list their products on Amazon and take advantage of the $400 billion market on Amazon.
(j) The first Amazon Export Warehouse was launched
k. 600 MSMEs were trained on how to successfully list their products on Amazon
(l) In partnership with Bellafricana N60 million was provided in grant support to 20 MSMEs that export fashion & beauty, arts & crafts, home & living products, to gain more visibility globally
(m) In partnership with the Lagos Fashion Week N500 million was provided in grant support to 30 fashion brands that have blazed the trail in the export of made in Nigeria fashion items, to enable them to penetrate more global markets and secure more orders.
(7) To ensure the increased participation of women and youths in the non-oil export ecosystem, the following were implemented;
(a) In partnership with NAWORG, the women’s wing of The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and The Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), N50 million was provided in grant support to drive the advocacy of a policy for preferential public procurement for women owned businesses, as signed by Nigeria in the Buenos Aires agreement.
(b) 400 women were trained in export readiness and supply chain
(c) Over N1 billion was disbursed as grants to women owned businesses
(d) 2000 youths were trained from zero knowledge of export to become full-fledged experts
(e) In partnership with Nourishing Africa, a online learning portal was developed to train youths in agro-export practices
(f) In partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), N400 million was provided in grant support to scale the businesses of 50 export ready youth TEF entrepreneurs
(g) 4000 women and 1000 youths were trained in digital skills, ecommerce and website development
(h) Outsource Nigeria, an initiative that aims to make Nigeria a premium destination for digitally enabled Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
(i) Working with the World Economic Forum (WEF), to setup a Closing the Skills Gap Accelerator in Nigeria, making Nigeria the 2nd country in Africa and the 14th country in the world where this has been setup.
(j) Working with the World Economic Forum (WEF), to include Nigeria in the next in the WEF Future of Jobs Report. This will help in mapping the skills available in Nigeria and compare with similar data collected from other countries, thereby giving a better sense of where Nigeria has an advantage in exporting services.
This will be a good stepping-stone to help build a modern labour market information system for Nigeria
(k) N30 million grant support to drive the advocacy of the Nigerian Start-up Bill, with the aim of attending to regulatory challenges affecting digital services export
(l) N200 million grant support to innovation hubs across three geo-political regions,from which the first innovation hub in Southern Kaduna, was established at the Kaduna State University (KASU), Kafanchan campus
(m) Setting up of Digital Economy Infrastructure (DEI), in three universities (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, University of Ibadan, and University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus), in partnership with CBN Centres of Excellence in the respective universities. This will provide cheap high-speed unlimited internet connectivity within these campuses, making them active digital skills acquisition and technology development zones
(n) Curriculum review of two undergraduate courses, GES 301 and ETR 301, at the University of Ibadan, to reflect the constant opportunities in non-oil exports, innovation, technology development and the future of work. This will drive an organic sensitization of about 7,000 youths every session in non-oil exports opportunities
(o) N300 million grant support to six start-ups in FinTech, LogisticsTech, EntertainmentTech, and EduTech. Some of the start-ups are already expanding their service offerings beyond Nigeria.
(p) Grant support to Utricle Studios to drive the export of animation services
(q) An end-end pilot of Outsource Nigeria through a N150 million grant to Fitila Integrated Technologies. This pilot trained 100 youths in high-in-demand cloud engineering skills and is currently connecting them to cross border opportunities.
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