NEPC’s Ayeni Unveils Export Expansion Drive in Kano, Targets Women and Youth for Greater Non‑Oil Growth

NEPC’s Ayeni Unveils Export Expansion Drive in Kano, Targets Women and Youth for Greater Non‑Oil Growth

The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, says Kano State and the wider North‑West region are central to Nigeria’s ambition to double non‑oil export earnings and strengthen the country’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Ayeni made the remarks at a stakeholders’ engagement and Non‑Oil Export Town Hall Meeting in Kano, where she outlined the Council’s nationwide engagement strategy and its roadmap for expanding Nigeria’s non‑oil export base. She told Economic Confidential that Kano was deliberately chosen as a strategic location because of its dominant role in agricultural production, commodity aggregation, processing, trading, logistics and access to regional markets.

Ayeni said the Kano engagement was part of a broader national exercise covering all six geopolitical zones. “We chose Kano as a strategic state in the North‑West. We were previously in Lagos for the South‑West, and we will be heading to Port Harcourt to cover the South‑South,” she said.

She explained that the Council’s decision to take its advocacy across the country was driven by the need to understand region‑specific challenges and ensure NEPC interventions remain responsive to exporters’ needs.

Kano’s Strategic Role

Ayeni described Kano as “a potential export engine,” noting that the state not only produces significant quantities of export commodities but also serves as a major aggregation and trading hub for products sourced across northern Nigeria. She said NEPC had visited several companies in Kano before the town hall meeting, adding that the turnout demonstrated strong…