Retirerees now have opportunities to engage in more productive ventures as
the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) intensifies effort to promote inclusive economic participation.
According to the NEPC, the plan is to ensure that public servants approaching retirement are empowered to embrace new opportunities for wealth creation and national development.
Its Executive Director, CEO, Nonye Ayeni said retirement should not be viewed as the end of productive engagement, but rather as the beginning of a new chapter filled with opportunities to deploy years of experience, discipline and leadership towards building sustainable enterprises.
She spoke at the maiden edition of the Sustainable Opportunities for Active Retirement (SOAR) initiative in Abuja, noting that, as the Federal Government agency mandated to promote and diversify Nigeria’s economy away from oil, the NEPC continues to create innovative programmes that are pivotal to stimulating Nigerians to imbibe an export culture, while supporting the broader objectives of economic diversification.
“The SOAR Initiative is one of such strategic intervention designed to prepare retiring public officers for meaningful participation in Nigeria’s growing non-oil export economy. The global demand for agricultural commodities, processed foods, manufactured goods, and specialised services continues to expand.
“Nigeria is richly endowed with abundant natural resources, entrepreneurial talent and exportable products capable of competing favourably in international markets.
“However, unlocking these opportunities requires adequate knowledge, compliance with international quality standards, market intelligence and access to affordable export finance among other support systems,” she said.
She added that through this initiative, participants will be introduced to practical opportunities across the export value chain, including commercial agriculture, processing, packaging, aggregation, export trading and export-support services. They will also gain valuable insights into export procedures, quality assurance requirements, market access strategies, financing opportunities and the numerous interventions available through the Council.