To facilitate online transactions on consumer products between Nigerian buyers and global markets in the US, True Branches Ltd, in 2008, opened two offices ' first in Illinois USA, and then in Lagos, Nigeria. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Ms. Toyin Kolawole, in an email exchange withMARCEL MBAMALU, said the non-oil export potentials in Nigeria remains very deep but the country needs to encourage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and develop the enabling environment to grow exports.What is your perception of Nigeria's non-oil exports and what can be done to boost it'Nigerian non-oil exports are still significantly below potential. The gradual decline over the last 50 years is especially saddening when we look at past data for example in 1961. We supplied 42 percent of the world's shelled groundnuts; today it is almost zero percent. China, US and Argentina now have global dominance of the groundnut market.Also in 1961, we exported 18 percent of the world's cocoa but have been rapidly overtaken by Cote d'voire and Indonesia.Shea butter is another great example ' Nigeria produces one of the purest forms in the world, and yet we are an irrelevant, almost non-existent, exporter in the global market. This is sad given every major cosmetics company uses Shea butter as input.In fashion, Nigerian designers and fabrics continue to fascinate the world. We see the strong Nigerian influence on the US fashion runways and stores but most of our celebrated designers still generate revenue from local 'bespoke' sales; none are yet to export to mainstream America via stores like Neiman, Macys and so on.If we had maintained our export growth rate from 1961 in just a few of the major Agricultural categories alone, we would have generated an additional N2 trillion in revenue in 2011; but instead, we had approximately N400 billion in non-oil exports in 2011 (about N300 billion of that came from Agriculture).So, what do you think should be done to boost non-oil exports'We need business-focused enablers in both the private and public sector.Nigerian government and regulatory authorities have to and are already stepping in to ensure that private sector manufacturers have the three key enablers ' Infrastructure, Financing and Business support ' required.China does this phenomenally well. The United States, through its Export-Import Bank, provides credit guarantees for multi-billion-dollar transactions, as well as small export transactions as low as $1000. This is because countries like China and the US have realised that economic growth comes primarily from small and medium businesses.If Nigeria were an exception, Telecoms, Oil and Gas etc. would be employing everybody and we would be like Switzerland; but this is not the case today as our jobless rates are still high and most citizens (even those with university degrees) still live in poverty.If Nigeria will create jobs, wealth, and grow our working class community, we must enable small and medium businesses, we must enable entrepreneurship and one clear way to do that is to provide export opportunities. If our products are built to export standards, local consumption also goes up because our people will no longer have import from overseas. Chivita is a perfect example.At the private sector level (we are referring to mostly small and mid-sized entrepreneurs), people have to begin to take advantage of local opportunities to manufacture exportable products. We need to imbibe the true spirit of entrepreneurship and abandon the pursuit of short-term get-rich-quick schemes and do the hard work involved in building a long-term going concern.Large organisations with investment portfolios can also begin to diversify and invest in 'Buy Nigeria Products'. A great example is the Transcorp's investment in Teragro Benfruit Juice concentrate plant, Makurdi, which produces orange, mango and pineapple fruit concentratesWhat picture does the US-Nigeria trade cut at the moment' Does the balance of trade (non-oil) really favourNigeria'In 2011 Nigeria reported a trade surplus of approximately $9.2 billion. Oil and natural gas accounts for more than 95 percent of total exports. When you remove oil and gas from the equation, we are an import country.When you look at what we consume locally and weigh it against how much of it that we produce, what you will see is a huge deficit outside of oil and gas.Our leaders are mindful of these facts. For example, Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina has pledged to make Nigeria a net exporter of food, starting with projects like rice. His team is working to ensure we produce our own rice, rather than import.Could you give an idea of what gave impetus to the establishment of True Branches in the US and later Nigeria; how the platform works as well as how you create seamless sale-purchase activity online; how do you ensure that imports and exports undertaken by you meet US specified standards'True branches was initially founded in 2008 as a solution to tackle the unwillingness and/or inability of retail stores in the US to process, accept payments for, and ship orders originating from Nigeria. Many of these stores believe that credit cards /orders originating from Nigeria are scams due to the widely publicised 419 schemes on US local media.We know that there are many hardworking Nigerians with valid shopping needs and honest means; so, we aimed to fill that gap by providing access to United States sellers in a way that eliminates these concerns.We started our 'Buy Nigeria' export operations in 2008 as well but failed and lost a lot of money. So, in January 2009, we hit reset and decided that rather than going into export blind, we would start to accumulate and analyse data to help determine three things:Which products are in high demand in the US market that Nigeria already produces at a comparative advantage'Can we identify Nigerian producers who operate at global exportable standards and are still cost effective'Can we bridge that gap between 1) and 2) above in a way that promotes long lasting export relationships and creates jobs within Nigeria'In 2011, we re-launched our BuyNigeria export operations. True Branches enables BuyNigeria and here's how:' We are a credible intermediary with consolidated US infrastructure that Nigerian exporters can utilise at low cost to jump-start or grow their export to the United States.Our Consolidated buying and selling enables individuals come together and buy and sell in bulkE-Commerce and payment platformsUS Warehousing and fulfillmentDirect link to distributors, wholesale/retail chains and consumers within the United StatesBusiness SupportOur focus is small and mid-sized businessesOne of our primary areas of focus is non-oil/AGOA Nigerian export to the United States.How do you guard against scams and protect Nigerian merchants who are less IT- equipped to ensure they do a smooth buy/sale activity online'Buyers and sellers need to feel protected and trust the integrity of a transaction other e-commerce would not work.True Branches escrows payments made via our payment platforms. For example, when a Nigerian merchant puts up an item for sale and it is bought by a US consumer. To protect both parties - payment is held in escrow until the Merchant sees through the delivery process. The buyer (US or Nigeria) feels protected knowing they can get a refund in the event that the merchant is unable to fulfill their part of the transaction.On the flip side, the merchant (US or Nigeria) knows that since payment is escrowed they will receive payment once they fulfill their part of the transaction.What challenge do the new Google business and other offerings by Google pose to your operations and profitability'Google is a True Branches client. In addition, we see Google as a key enabler. The more people and businesses they can get online, the better it will be for the e-commerce community as a whole, which True Branches is a huge part of. Google also helps sell Nigeria to other would-be US companies and investors. More people are paying attention now that Google is here.Based on your operational experience so far, how can Nigeria harness the huge (disjointed/informal) non-oil exports/imports with the US for GDP and other socio-economic growths'The steps are simple but require dedication. We need to focus on what we can produce comparatively well. For example, furniture and accessories, Shea butter, cashew, cocoa, clothing, raw materials, spices and so on.We need to support entrepreneurship by providing pay as you go infrastructure (shared basis), tools, lower business set-up costs, financing and strategic advice to start-ups and early stage businesses. We can partner with universities to provide internship from year one through to graduation where students can be involved in manufacturing for export.We need standardization; we cannot export if we don't standardise to meet global expectations. We need marketing/intermediary organisations like True Branches. Other countries have relied significantly on intermediary organizations, who systematically and continuously link producers, manufacturers etc. to buyer markets.We need to focus on the export value chain to ensure that Nigerian producers are maximising revenue opportunitiesAny word on the Export Promotion Grant (EPG); has it really aided non-oil exports in any way'Many countries, such as the US, have similar Grants and each time an exporter is enabled via the grant, an email is sent to subscribers stating: how much was given, what the specific grant will be used for, how many jobs it is expected to create, who the major buyers are, and so on.. Every year, these grants are measured based on revenue generated, value and volume of exported goods, new jobs created etc.So, at the moment, the EPG data is passed to the Ministry of Finance and that of Commerce on a monthly basis. So, your guess is as good as ours.
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