Key points
- The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Imo State Government hosted a strategic product branding workshop for local businesses.
- Trade administrators emphasized that improving visual packaging is essential for local products to remain competitive on global store shelves.
- Entrepreneurs were urged to patent their unique goods to protect their intellectual property and curb counterfeit imitations.
- State authorities reaffirmed their support for small enterprises as vital drivers for generating foreign exchange and boosting local content.
- The technical training session drew participation from key federal enterprise, technology incubation, and raw materials research agencies.
Main Story
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), in partnership with the Imo State Government, has organized a specialized one-day capacity-building workshop in Owerri designed to equip Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with premium branding and packaging techniques for international trade.
The joint initiative, held under the theme “Packaging, Labelling and Branding Products for Export,” aimed to address the visual and structural presentation deficits that frequently hinder locally manufactured goods from successfully penetrating foreign markets. Trade regulators noted that adopting a culture of clean, high-quality product design is no longer optional but a critical requirement for securing a competitive edge abroad.
In an opening address delivered on behalf of the Executive Director of the NEPC, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, by the Imo State Coordinator, Mr. Anthony Ajuruchi, the council stressed that product appearance serves as a direct reflection of its quality and market acceptability. Small business owners were encouraged to systematically upgrade their labeling standards to match globally accepted benchmarks, which drastically improves their survival rate when competing against established international brands.
While commending the resilience of regional exporters navigating a challenging global trade landscape, the NEPC leadership urged them to continuously innovate to ensure their product lines remain both commercially viable and highly profitable.
The Imo State Government backed the trade drive, highlighting small businesses as indispensable pillars for expanding local content and generating critical foreign exchange. Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Skill Acquisition and Social Responsibilities, Prof. Chinonye Moses, reaffirmed the state’s dedication to fostering strategic public-private alliances that accelerate grassroots economic growth.
To safeguard these local innovations, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Ifeoma Ibeka, strongly advised the participating entrepreneurs to legally patent their products, noting that securing trademark protections is a vital defense mechanism against the spread of low-quality, counterfeit goods.
The Issues
- Upgrading local artisan manufacturing and packaging standards to satisfy strict, non-negotiable international import regulations.
- Overcoming high production costs to make premium, export-grade packaging materials accessible for small-scale local businesses.
- Fast-tracking product patenting and intellectual property registration to shield indigenous brands from global and domestic piracy.
What’s Being Said
- Outlining the direct link between consumer presentation and export success, the Executive Director of NEPC, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, highlighted the importance of attractive branding and packaging “to attract interest from potential buyers”.
- Emphasizing how design impacts consumer perception, Ayeni added: “The appearance of a product says a lot about its efficacy and market acceptability, hence the need for our utmost efforts in branding and packaging for best results“.
- Reaffirming the state’s long-term plan to leverage small businesses for broader economic stability, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Prof. Chinonye Moses, stated that the State Government: “remained committed to partnerships with MSMEs that would drive economic growth and provide foreign exchange”.
What’s Next
- Participating MSMEs will begin redesigning their product labels to incorporate international standard barcode formats and mandatory ingredient disclosures.
- The Imo State Ministry of Entrepreneurship will set up advisory channels to guide local business owners through the legal processes of product patenting.
- Federal regulatory bodies, including the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), will track the post-training export readiness of the trained businesses.
Bottom Line
The NEPC and the Imo State Government have trained local MSMEs on modern packaging and global branding standards to help their products stand out in competitive foreign markets, while urging entrepreneurs to patent their creations to prevent counterfeiting.
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