Capacity Building for Trade Associations

This is a presentation from the second day of the Trade Associations capacity building titled – Strengthening the structure of Trade Associations in the Non-oil Export sector for better Governance and Leadership. It covers Member Relations & Communication, Advocacy and Stakeholder Management, Fundraising & Financial Management as well as Leadership & Corporate Governance.

The study ‘Diversification and Non-Oil Export Opportunities for Nigerian States Post-COVID-19’ was commissioned by the NEPC through the Policy Development Facility (PDF) Bridge Programme for use by the public and private sector stakeholders. Ernst & Young conducted a market analysis on six prioritised products from the Zero Oil Initiative and provided strategic recommendations.

PDF Bridge has now developed a policy brief for stakeholders to highlight the key issues and recommendations. The full study can be accessed here.

PDF II held a two-day capacity building training themed: “Capacity Building for Banks and DFIs”. This is designed to explore access to finance challenges, awareness campaigns, and opportunities that non-oil exporters face with banks in accessing finance. The capacity building covered topics such as Export Industry Regulations and Documentations, payment methods and trade finance instruments, Handling export finance options, managing export risks, understanding the franchising potential etc.

The Trade Policy Work Stream started out by conducting a needs assessment to get direct feedback from export-oriented MSMEs, export-supporting government institutions, and export business service providers to ascertain the capacity gaps. The top 5 challenges highlighted by the respondents include lack of market linkages, lack of finance, lack of market intelligence, limited knowledge of destination country requirements, and Export documentation.

Respondents were further asked about what they would like to see if there is an opportunity for assistance with capacity building for export readiness and export market access. Each responded provided its top 3 areas of preference for capacity building. The findings from the overall assessment provided a guide on areas to address.

In response to their needs, TRD workstream designed a targeted capacity building for the non-oil export community of practice to address the knowledge and skill gaps through a 4-part Export Capacity Building (CB) Series.

This study conducted by PDF with support from FCDO (formerly DFID) shows that women who engaged in cross border trade contribute to food security by trading food products from areas of surplus to areas of deficit. The paper reveals that depending on how this trade is organized, these women have the potential to contribute significantly to household earnings and resources. This empowers women by giving them financial independence and control of their own resources.