NEPC Wins WTO Awards

The International Trade Centre (ITC) has announced the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), among three national trade and investment promotion organisations as winners of the 2018 World Trade Promotion Organisation Awards in Paris, France.

The Executive Director of ITC, Ms. Arancha González, made the announcement during theWTPO 2018 Awards presentation ceremony.

She stated that the participating Trade Promotion Organisations who responded to ITC’s invitation to compete for the awards went through a two-step rigorous assessment process, which was completely independent of ITC. Receiving the award on behalf of NEPC, its Executive Director/CEO, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, said he was humbled by the accomplishment. It was the first time the NEPC would receive the award.

NEPC won the award for the Best Initiative to ensure that trade is inclusive and sustainable.

The nominated countries in the ‘Best initiative to ensure that trade is inclusive and sustainable category’ were Mauritius, Mongolia, Nigeria and Peru. TheWorldTrade Promotion Organisations Conference jointly hosted by the ITC and Business France is held between 25 – 26 October 2018 and had over 80 trade promotion organisations in attendance.

Thisyear’sthemewas:“TradeandInvestmentEcosystemsDelivering for Growth.” NEPC entered the competition with its Zero to Export initiative. The ‘Zero to Export’ initiative trains exporters on the export process, provides advice on products and markets, and enhances their marketing and management skills. The initiative which trained 560 individuals and companies has achieved remarkable results which include €22 million in potential sales to the European market where Nigerian companies had not previously been successful.