As part of efforts to boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has announced a strategic partnership with leading financial institutions, Fidelity Bank Plc and Sapphital Learning Ltd.
The partnership will help improve the skills and performance of export businesses in Nigeria by leveraging the NEXIM Export Academy (NEXA), an online platform that provides exporters with capacity-building training and access to finance to scale their business.
The NEXA platform which was Launched with the support of Sapphital (a digital learning institute) in 2022, is designed to empower millions of businesses with resources needed to run successful export operations, perform at higher levels of quality control, and compete favorably in the global market.
The platform aims to drive the growth of Non-oil Exports and Foreign Exchange by connecting all the stakeholders along the value chain to enhance learning, improve quality, and grow Intra-African and Global Trade.
At the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony in Abuja, the Managing Director, NEXIM, Mr. Abba Bello said: “Part of the awareness the bank seeks to drive was to make people appreciate the fact and come to the knowledge that export is not only for big companies especially now that small manufacturers or traders can trade across borders.
“We seek to drive the knowledge that will help entrepreneurs know the processes, documentation and the kind of compliances they need to adhere to in their quest towards export and import business,” Bello added.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe noted that the bank has consistently championed the promotion of non-oil export and capacity building for players in the nation’s export and import business.
“We have always been at the forefront of growing the non-oil export business. We focused on our export banking business over the years and we have remained consistent in pioneering initiatives geared towards aiding capacity-building and access to capital for local exporters. The partnership provides an opportunity to deepen the conversations in the export space and more importantly, to create value for the players in the sector,” she said.
On the ultimate goal of the institute, Mr. Amu Ogbeide, Founder/CEO of Sapphital Learning Ltd (the Education Alternative for individuals, teachers, employees, organizations, and business owners), said: “We want to grow the export market, we want more people to join and grow.”
NEXIM was established by Act 38 of 1991 as an Export Credit Agency (ECA) owned by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It provides short term guarantees for loans granted by Nigerian Banks to exporters as well as credit insurance against political and commercial risks in the event of non-payment by foreign buyers. The bank is also the government’s National Guarantor under the ECOWAS Inter-state Road Transit programme.
Fidelity Bank, with over 7.5 million customers serviced across 250 business offices and digital banking channels, was recognized as the Best SME Bank in Nigeria (2022) and the Best Payment Solutions Provider in Nigeria (2023) by the Global Banking and Finance Awards. The bank won awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
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