The inability of Nigerian goods to meet international standards has hindered the country from fully benefiting from the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), the country’s Commerce Minister, Achike Udenwa, said in Abuja on Thursday.

AGOA, a program designed by the United States government under the Bill Clinton administration, seeks to promote the export of African goods into the American market.

Udenwa said : “We have realized since 2001, about nine years ago, that we have not fully utilized the opportunities the AGOA has offered.”

“We should be good enough in the area of textiles, garments, and crafts and some of our agricultural products. But for you to do that, you have to meet certain standards,” he said.

The minister noted that it was the failure to attain a good standard that had hindered Nigeria from reaping maximum benefits from AGOA.

“The standard has not been so good ; at the same time we have not been very competitive in the American market,” he said.

He said it was against this backdrop that the ministry recently organized a series of workshops to educate farmers and manufacturers on how best to meet the standards required by the American market.

According to the minister, farmers and manufacturers are also being sensitized on how to package their products to make them attractive and competitive.

He added that packaging was a very important tool of marketing, noting, “You can produce the best things in the world but if you don’t package and present it well, nobody is interested.”

The minister said that they would soon be visiting three cities in America – Atlanta, Chicago and Houston – to showcase Nigerian products.

“We want to showcase what we produce ; so, that’s part of how we want to utilize AGOA,” he said.

Source African Press Agency

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

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