Export Business in Nigeria: How to Start

Exportation is sending goods produced in one country to another for sales. The seller of such goods and services is called the exporter while the foreign buyer is an importer. Export of goods often requires the involvement of authorities because it is international trade.

Exportation is of huge significance to the economy of both the importer and the exporter.  Exports are important because they offer a country a wider market for their goods. Exports and imports are also crucial because they contribute to the development and growth of national economies.

Not all countries have the resources and skills required to produce certain goods and services, therefore, such countries would need to buy them from another country that produces them in abundance.

Starting an Export Business in Nigeria

Starting an export business is one of the most profitable businesses you can be involved in while in Nigeria. Many have raked in their millions from the exporting business. There are many products and commodities that we have in abundance here in Nigeria, almost to the point where we do not value them.

However, these products are in higher demand and go for a much higher price in other countries. This means huge profit opportunities for those who dare to go into the exportation of such commodities. However, exportation business requires adequate research, knowledge and capital in order to get started.

credit: practicalbusinessideas

List of Products and goods you can export from Nigeria

Ginger

Cocoa butter

Palm kernel oil

Textiles and garments

Yam tubers

Charcoal

Cassava floor

Cashew Nuts

Honey

Cosmetics and Soap

Wigs and hair attachments.

The export business in Nigeria is highly lucrative but still has its own fair share of challenges. One of the biggest challenges faced by Nigerian exporters or those who are interested in the business face is; lack of knowledge of the rules and regulations that govern the business in Nigeria as well as lack of knowledge of the legal requirements for starting and running the business. This has made many exportation businesses to crumble.

You need to know the legal requirements that you must meet before starting out in the Nigerian export industry. This is to avoid legal problems in the course of your business. Starting your exportation business in Nigeria requires some research and learning. There are things you need to put in place in order to start a successful exportation business. This article provides you with guidelines on how to start your exportation business and grow it to success.

International business is one of the most profitable businesses in Nigeria because exportation exposes you to a whole new larger market. If your business is legit and you follow the rules right, you will become successful in the exportation business.

How to start a exportation business in Nigeria: Steps Involved

Register for an exportation business course in Nigeria

The internet offers you a wealth of information which you will find useful in order to succeed in the exportation business. First is that you need a well-experienced mentor to guide you through the process and help in difficult situations.

Your mentor should be someone that is already doing the business and has recorded huge amount of success. You can also apply for an export business course which can be in any form such as a seminar, video recording tutorial, or a private tutor. It is best you go into the business with fore-knowledge and expertise advice than to venture into the exportation business world unarmed.

Decide on the type of export products you want to export

The next step in starting your exportation business is deciding on what products you want to export. You don’t need to be the one directly producing the product in order to export. You can buy the product from a producer to export.

Source the items locally

The next step is to source for a producer to supply you with the items you want to export

Obtain Trade Insurance and Regulatory Certificates

You need to obtain trade insurance which will help protect you if there is any damage to your goods while they are being stored or shipped by air, land, or sea.

Seek an export agent or forwarder

Ensure you carry the bank along by first opening a domiciliary account, and a current account

Finding a unique Business Name

One of the most important steps you must take when starting out in the exportation business in Nigeria is to register the name of your export business with the Corporate Affairs Commissions. Registering your business means your business has been added to the list of businesses officially recognized by the government. It also ensures that no other business takes and uses your business name for their own business. It is always best you register your business name immediately as you will not be allowed to register a business name that conflicts with that of another company that has earlier been registered.

A minimum of two directors and two shareholders

Another requirement when starting an exportation business as a company (limited or unlimited) is to have a minimum of two directors and two shareholders (maximum of 50) at every time. Note that this does not apply to you if you intend running your export business all alone (as a sole proprietorship) or would be involved with a business partner (partnership).

Have a registered office or an office address

Every export business in Nigeria is required to have a registered office, or at least an ‘office address’. You do not have to necessary have an office structure, but it is important you have an address that you can be traced to. If you are starting your exportation business on a small scale, you can use your home address as an office address. The government is more interested in you having an address for your business.

Registration with the NEXP

The Nigerian Customs Service has mandated that anyone willing to engage in export business must register with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. This Council was established to enhance and encourage exportation of commodities in order to generate national revenue. Registering your business with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council is not a difficult task. All you need to do is visit the Council’s website (www.nepc.gov.ng) and click the ‘Register here’ link. After which you will be shown the full details of the procedure and requirements.

How to register with NEXP

Register via the e-registration platform of NEPC. You will also be able to access yourself to know if you are export-ready.

NEPC also provides general market information and reports to help an exporter make informed decisions

Other benefits of registering with NEXP

Export trainings and seminars

NEPC also provides specific training programs, seminars and other export support programs for exporters

Matching Nigerian exporters with potential buyers

NEPC also helps to match Nigerian exporters with potential buyers

Advisory and coaching

NEPC offers consultation and advisory services on product development, market information.

Administration of export incentives

NEPC facilitates two export incentives, which are the Export Development Fund and Export Expansion Grant.

Support for women in exports

NEPC focuses on supporting women-owned businesses in Nigeria

Registration of Form NXP

In order to start your exportation business, it is required that you complete and register Form NXP with any authorized dealer of your choice (commercial or merchant bank). This is mandated by the Nigerian Customs Service. The dealer you choose will be in charge of handling your funds and transactions. You will also be required to set up and maintain a domiciliary account with the bank, to which your payments will be deposited.

Special licenses and permits

The next important step in your exportation business is to obtain the required licenses and permits. This is evidence that your business has been approved by the government. You need the services of a business lawyer to know the licenses and permits you must obtain for your exportation business. Your lawyer must be one with deep knowledge of the Nigerian business environment. Failure to obtain the required permits might bring you huge problems and losses in the future.

Licenses from target foreign country

Exportation business means sending products from Nigeria to other countries. All countries in the world require that you must obtain certificates and licenses before you can sell your products to their citizens. It is important you find out the requirements for any country you want to sell your products in. For many countries, your products have to be well inspected before you will be given a license. You will only be permitted to sell your products if they meet the standards set by the government of the target foreign country.

Additional documents needed for exportation business

  • Certificate of incorporation (for companies registered as corporations)
  • Tax certificates
  • Insurance covers
  • Verify your products are not on the prohibited goods list
  • Get your insurance covered

Source for customers

The soul of the exportation business is having customers. If there are no customers, then the exportation business will crash. You have to be intentional about finding customers. It is important you present a good picture of your brand and products since you will be working with foreign clients. One of your marketing strategies is good adverts and promotions. This might cost you some money but can make you more profit than if you did not do it. You can come up with a website design and promote it on web search platforms, such as Google or social media like Facebook and Instagram. The mode of adverts depends on the products you plan to export.

Ensure your website is multi-functional so that all products will be displayed, along with your contact information and all other necessary information that the client might need. This helps reduce stress on the part of the customer so they can reach you easily. The internet is the best place to get connected with clients and help your business develop. You can also partner with other companies that will supply you with the connections you need.

How to find buyers for your export business

  • Use professional apps such as Linkedin
  • Register with Export Promotion Councils (EPC)
  • Find local buyers who represent foreign companies or export to foreign organizations
  • Register on International Trade Platforms
  • Have an International SEO-Ready Website
  • Do Email Marketing
  • Hire overseas agents on commission basis
  • Contact the Chamber of Commerce for the country you are exporting to
  • Participate in trade fairs
  • Internet Marketing

Different ways to get involved in Exportation business in 2021

Exportation business is a capital intensive business. There are other ways you can get involved in exportation business at this time.

Direct Goods Export

Companies involved in direct goods export are the ones who manufacture the products locally and then source for international clients whom they export the products to. This form of export is usually capital intensive, as you have to produce them yourself or buy the products out from the producers so you can export them yourself.

Export brokerage

Going into the export business as a broker will not cost you as much as direct exportation. As a broker, all you need to do is leverage on a wide network of local suppliers to supplement your goods. This way, you will make more sales and be able to build a successful business. This is the most popular, safest, and effective form of exportation business in Nigeria. You can in fact act as a broker for either an importer or exporter.

For example, if the cost of white Sesame seeds from Nigeria is $1,500 per ton, you could come up with a deal where a supplier accepts $1450 per ton or find a buyer who would make purchases for about $1,550 per ton. This way you make a profit for yourself.

Being an exportation broker is a safe yet profitable way to be involved in the exportation business. One of the other benefits of being an export broker is that you can be involved in exporting different products across various industries, and still generate even more profit margins.

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Steven Spielberg’s Net Worth, Biography, Career, Awards, Fact and Life Story

Steven Spielberg net worth: Steven Spielberg is an American director, screenwriter and producer who has a net worth of $7.5 billion and annual income of $150 million. As of this writing, Steven’s $7.5 billion fortune makes him the second richest celebrity on the planet, behind good buddy and fellow director/producer, George Lucas (who is worth $10 billion).Steven Spielberg’s name is synonymous with film and his career spans over four decades. Some of his most-famous movies include “Jaws”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “Indiana Jones”… honestly, even the hit list is too long mention in a quick blurb.Earnings and Salary: For his own films, Steven frequently opts for a relatively low upfront salary, $10 million, in exchange for backend points on the gross revenue. One such deal for 1993’s “Jurassic Park”, resulted in a $250 million payday for Steven. That’s the same as roughly $360 million in today’s dollars. He earned at least $150 million from the sequel and $75 million from the third installment, which he did not even direct.He famously refused to accept a salary for “Schindler’s List”, calling any money earned “blood money”. He instead directed all proceeds owed to him in perpetuity be used to fund the USC Shoah Foundation in 1994 which honors and remembers Holocaust survivors.Universal Parks/Comcast Deal: Steven was able to negotiate what eventually became hundreds of millions of Jurassic Park dollars thanks to a particularly generous deal struck in 1993 with the film’s studio, Universal Pictures. Actually, the deal was with Universal’s parent MCA. In the early 1990s, MCA was flat broke and Spielberg’s contract was up for renewal. Warner Brothers made a generous offer that was almost impossible to match in terms of cash, so MCA had to get creative. In the end Spielberg successfully negotiated a deal that entitled him to 2% of all Universal park GROSS ticket sales, annually in perpetuity.Details of this arrangement became public decades later during a legal battle between Dreamworks and Disney in 2009. Legal filings showed that Steven loaned Dreamworks $15 million to help keep the studio afloat. A footnote in the lawsuit detailed Spielberg’s 2% Universal deal amounted to $30 million per year, in recent years. The payments are called “consulting fees”.Fast forward to 2015. By this point Universal was owned by the publicly-traded Comcast. Also by this point, Universal operated multiple theme parks around the world, all of which paid Steven a cut of ticket sales.As part of an Securities filings on business risks and upcoming costs, Comcast was forced to disclose that in 2017 it could owe Spielberg as much as $535 million due to a buyout clause in the contract. When 2017 came around, Spielberg did not activate the buyout clause. Instead, Comcast and Spielberg agreed to a new deal in which Comcast took an ownership interest in his film studio, Amblin Partners in a deal that could ultimately pay over $1 billion.Star Wars Bet: Back in the late 1970s during the production of what would become “Star Wars”, writer/director/creator George Lucas was convinced that his passion project would be an enormous bomb. At the same time Spielberg was filming what would become “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. In a moment of particular weakness and desperation, Lucas asked Spielberg if he would trade backend points on their respective films. As Spielberg would later recount:”He said, ‘You want to trade some points? I’ll give you two and a half per cent of Star Wars if you give me two and a half per cent of Close Encounters.’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ll gamble with that, great.'”Spielberg accepted. And while Close Encounters was a big hit, earning more than $300 million globally, Star Wars would eventually go on to earn billions. In the process, Steven made (and still makes to this day) a small fortune from a movie he had nothing to do with at all.Early Life: Spielberg had humble beginnings when he was just a boy with a huge imagination and a dream. Steven Spielberg was born on December 18th 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother Leah Adherer was a concert pianist and his father Arnold Spielberg was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. Steven’s childhood was spent in Haddon Heights, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona. It was in Scottsdale, as a teenager, where a young Spielberg would create 8mm short films. At age 12, he made his first movie when he filmed a train wreck involving his toy Lionel trains. Even back then, Spielberg had the gall to charge 25 cents for the local kids to come and watch his many epics. At the age of 13, Spielberg won an award for his 40-minute film about war called “Escape to Nowhere”. At the age of sixteen he made his first feature-length film, “Firelight”, which he played at his local cinema. It was a Sci-fi film which would later go on to inspire the classic “Close Encounters of the third kind”. Unfortunately, his parents eventually divorced and he moved with his father to Saratoga, California where Steven attended and graduated from Saratoga high school. After graduation he applied to the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film, and Television but was rejected three times. Instead he attended California State University, Long Beach, where he became part of the Theta Chi Fraternity.Early Career: His career did not begin until he worked at Universal Studios as an unpaid intern for the editing department. It was during this time that Spielberg directed a twenty-four-minute short film, “Amblin” (a name that he would eventually carry to his production company) which caught the eye of Sidney Shainberg who was the vice president of production for Universal’s television division. Spielberg became the youngest director to ever sign a long-term contract with a major studio. He dropped out of college for the opportunity (but later returned in 2002 to complete his BA degree in Film and Electronic Arts, as if he needed the credentials to back up the field experience!)During his time as a television director he directed episodes of Rod Sterling’s Night Gallery, Columbo, and Marcus Welby M.D. These ventures were so successful that he was signed on to shoot four made-for-television films. The first of which was the 1971 classic “Duel”. Duel was such a success that he was offered the job of directing the theatrical feature film “The Sugarland Express”. The film was met with a lot of positive feedback.Success: It was not until 1975 when Spielberg’s career sky-rocketed with the success of “Jaws”. In 1975 Jaws became the first real blockbuster film after over 67% of Americans went to see it. At that time, he rejected offers to make Jaws 2, King Kong, and Superman. Instead, Steven followed Jaws up with “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” starring Richard Dreyfus (who Spielberg considers his alter ego). In 1981 he teamed up with long time friend and fellow filmmaker George Lucas to create Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first installment in the Indiana Jones series, which was an even bigger hit.A year later, Spielberg went back to the science fiction genre when he directed E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, a film about a young boy and the friendly alien he befriends. E.T. went on to become the top-grossing film of all time, and was nominated for nine Oscars. Between 1982 and 1985, Spielberg produced three incredibly high grossing and acclaimed films: Poltergeist (he also co-wrote the screenplay), The Twilight Zone, and The Goonies, for which he also wrote the story the screenplay was based on and executive produced the film.Next up, Spielberg directed the Raiders prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, again teaming up with George Lucas and Harrison Ford. This movie, along with the Spielberg-produced Gremlins, led to the creation of the PG-13 rating. The movie was a huge 1984 blockbuster. 1985 saw Spielberg’s release of an adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. The film helped catapult Spielberg into the dramatic genre, with Roger Ebert announcing it the best film of the year and later entering it into his Great Films archive. The movie was nominated for eleven Oscars.  In 1987, Spielberg shot Empire of the Sun, the first American film in Shanghai since the 1930s. While it didn’t garner substantial box office wins, it was critically acclaimed and nominated for several Academy Awards.After two forays into more serious dramatic films, Spielberg then directed the third Indiana Jones film, 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.Steven’s career would continue to create more massive hits such as 1991’s Hook starring Robin Williams, AI Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Jurassic Park, a legendary film that needs no introduction or explanation. He also executive produced the entire Men in Black franchise. He continued his dramatic work throughout the 2010s with movies like War Horse, Bridge of Spies, Lincoln, and The Post.In addition to the box office acclaim he has also seen critical acclaim and awards. Spielberg has won three Academy Awards, two of them for directing (1993’s Schindler’s List and 1998’s Saving Private Ryan, both of which are consistently found on lists of the greatest films of all time,) and one for Best Picture (Schindler’s List). His films are consistently nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.Apart from his extensive and genius film career, Spielberg has long been involved in video games production: collaborating, directing, designing, and screenwriting.Steven Spielberg continues to make, direct, produce, and breathe films.Personal Life: In 1985, Spielberg and his first wife actress Amy Irvine had their son Max Samuel Spielberg together. The couple would divorce in 1989 after 3 and a half years of marriage. They cited competing stresses of their careers as a main cause of their falling out. Their divorce was reportedly the third most costly celebrity divorce in history at that time.He got remarried on October 12, 1991 to actress Kate Capshaw, whom he had met when she was cast in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Capshaw converted to Spielberg’s religion, Judaism. The two live in four different locations around the world (Pacific Palisades, Ca, New York City, Naples Florida, and the East Hamptons) with their seven children.Real Estate: Steven and Kate own at least $200 million worth of real estate. For many years they owned a 1.4-acre slice of Malibu’s most-coveted beachfront. They bought the first of the parcels that became their final property, back in 1989 for $3.375 million. They expanded their footprint in 2002, purchasing the lot next door for $3.2 million. They sold the property, which has 150 feet of ocean frontage, in 2015 for $26 million.Their longtime primary residence, which they still own today, is an incredible 5-acre multi-home compound in the Pacific Palisades. Not far from their home, they also own an equestrian facility.On the east coast they own a 6,000 square-foot New York City apartment that directly overlooks Central Park West.Out in East Hampton, they own a 10-acre estate that is partially oceanfront and partially on a cove. The Spielberg compound encompasses 7.5 acres. In 2013, a nearby 5.5 acre property was put on the market for $75 million by a woman named Courtney Ross. Courtney is the widow of Steve Ross, the one-time Chairman of Warner Communications and longtime mentor of, Steven Spielberg. Spielberg would later describe Ross as “very much what I wish my father was”. Schindler’s List is dedicated to Steve Ross.Courtney sold her property for $50 million after a year on the market, perhaps not coincidentally, to Spielberg’s Dreamworks co-founder David Geffen. Geffen sold the estate two years later for $67 million. Again, the Spielberg-Capshaw property is at least two acres larger than the former Ross/Geffen property.The Spielbergs own several other Hamptons properties and a home in Naples, Florida. Steven has also financed several homes for his children around Los Angeles.Hobbies: Spielberg is an avid boating enthusiast. He purchased a mega-yacht (282 foot) called the Seven Seas in 2013. He paid $182 million dollars for it. He later put it up for sale and upgraded to a new 300-foot yacht that cost him a whopping $250 million dollars.He’s also, if you can believe it, a collector of old film memorabilia. He owns brag-worthy trinkets like a balsa Rosebud Sled from the set of Citizen Kane and Orson Welles’s own directorial copy of the script for 1938’s The War of the Worlds. He purchases Academy Award statuettes (for example, the awards that Bette Davis won in the 1930s) being sold on the open market and donates them to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in order to keep them preserved and prevent commercial exploitation. Spielberg also owns many works by American painter Normal Rockwell. His own personal collection of 57 Rockwell paintings (along with fellow collector George Lucas’s own works) were displayed at the Smithsonian in an exhibition titled Telling Stories from July 2-January 2 2011.Although we can’t imagine where he finds the time, Spielberg is also a film buff who watches several films on any given weekend.
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