NEPC plans sale of leather products from academy
The Nigerian Exports Promotion Council has announced plans to exhibit finished leather products made by those who have graduated from its leather training programme.
The council made this announcement at the third graduation ceremony of the NEPC intensive leather-making course in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking with our correspondent on the sidelines of the event, the Regional Coordinator, South-West, NEPC, Mr Babatunde Faleke, said the aim of the planned exhibition was to expose the participants to the local market; to let Nigerians know that unique authentic products were being made by the Small and Medium Enterprise operators who participated in the training programme.
According to him, the council will soon start running promotions for the mini-leather fair and exhibition scheduled to take place in Lagos in August.
He said, “We have trained 75 participants since the commencement of the programme and we intend to hold three days’ exhibition for at least 50 of them.
“We want the world to see what they can do. We want to also get buyers for their products; that way, more organisations will support the programme and we will be able to train more people.”
He said that Nigeria wanted to start exporting finished leather products instead of raw leather, adding that it was the reason the council was empowering people in the leather craft business.
“The story should change from the export of raw leather to the export of finished leather products. We learnt that leather pouches and bags to sell for as much as $5,000 in the international market. We can tap into that market and boost our non-oil foreign exchange earnings,” he said.
In her opening remarks, the facilitator of the programme, Chief Designer of leather handbags and owner of Femi Handbag brand, Femi Olayebi, said that the participants were selected from 170 people who showed interest to participate in the programme.
According to her, with help from the Oyo State Government, the training programme will be relocated to a bigger place.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives, Oyo State, Mr. Waheed Amao, said that the initiative was a welcome one, especially as there was dearth of white-collar jobs in the country.
He said,” Before now, we depended on oil; but now, there is no more oil. So, this is a good move towards growing the non-oil economy and the government of Oyo State will give it all the support it requires. It is a good initiative to train people who will not only have jobs but become employers of labour.”
The Oyo State Manager, Bank of Industry, Mr. Pakwins Irabor, encouraged the participants to come together as a group so that they could access funds from the bank.
He urged them to get education on how to put their finances together and write a winning proposal that could attract investors.
“You are the kind of people that we want to support. We are tired of people who just have one idea and they are already coming for money. It is people that have succeeded and they need help to scale the impact of their success that needs a loan. Please don’t borrow money when you have not created a business,” he stated.
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