How to Export from Nigeria
To export from Nigeria you need a registered business, an exporter's certificate from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, and an NXP form processed through your bank for each shipment. Depending on the product you also need quality certificates, such as a phytosanitary certificate for agricultural goods or a NAFDAC export certificate for processed foods, and the consignment goes through pre-shipment inspection before it leaves. The harder part is commercial: finding a real buyer, meeting their specification and getting paid. This guide covers both the paperwork and the practice.
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آلاف المشترين يتزودون من موردين معتمدين على Towobo.
Find Wholesale Suppliers on Towobo →Before anything else: the business, the product and the buyer
Exporting is a formal activity, so start with a properly registered business at the Corporate Affairs Commission, a Tax Identification Number and a corporate bank account, including a domiciliary account to receive foreign currency. Then look hard at the product. Check that it is not on Nigeria's export prohibition list, which is published by the Nigeria Customs Service and has included items such as raw hides and skins, timber, scrap metal and maize, and check the import rules of the destination country, which are often stricter than Nigeria's. Food and agricultural products face limits on pesticide residues, aflatoxin, moisture and foreign matter, and consignments that fail are rejected at the buyer's port at the exporter's cost. The most common mistake new exporters make is to buy goods first and look for a buyer afterwards. Do it the other way round. Find the buyer, agree the specification, quantity, packaging, price, delivery term and payment method in a written contract, and only then source the goods. Be realistic about scale as well. International buyers of commodities usually want container quantities delivered consistently, so many small exporters begin by supplying established export houses or by pooling supply through a cooperative before they ship in their own name.