World Trade Organisation to launch women exporter grant

The Women Exporter in Digital Economy (WEIDE) grant will be launched on Thursday in Abuja by the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Nigeria has been selected as a pilot beneficiary of the WEIDE Fund, designed to support women-led businesses to actively participate in global digital trade. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is one of only four Business Support Organisations globally — and the sole representative from Africa — chosen to implement the first phase of the grant, which was initially unveiled by Okonjo-Iweala in February 2024.

Speaking on women in export during the period under review, NEPC Executive Director Nonye Ayeni said the Council trained over 100 women-led businesses on increasing the volume and value of spice and herb exports through aggregation centres. These centres, she explained, streamline the supply chain and serve as hubs connecting producers to both local and international markets.

Ayeni noted that the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises mainstreaming women and youth into the export ecosystem. She added that NEPC organised a forum to position women-led businesses to maximise opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

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“The objectives are to enhance the export competitiveness of women engaged in cross-border trade, improve access to market information and trade facilitation services, enhance data collation on women-led non-oil export activities, and advocate for more gender-responsive trade and export policies,” Ayeni said. “Over 160 women-led businesses participated in the event.”

To improve ease of doing business, Ayeni disclosed that the Council registered 2,285 new exporters in the first half of the year — 377 female and 1,467 male. NEPC also built capacity across the value chain, training stakeholders in documentation, export readiness, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Warehousing Practice (GWP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), packaging and labelling.

According to her, NEPC conducted 252 capacity-building programmes nationwide, reaching 27,352 participants. The Council also facilitated free international certifications, including FDA and HACCP, for 200 exporters to meet global market standards, reduce product rejections and boost competitiveness.

Ayeni further revealed that as part of its Corporate Social Investment, NEPC distributed 23,239 hybrid seedlings — including cocoa, sesame and oil palm — to 3,047 farmers in the first half of the year, improving produce quality and export volumes.