EXPORTS TRADE IS MADE EASIER THROUGH COLLABORATIONS AMONG STAKEHOLDERS

It can be recalled that a few years back, cashew exporters in Nigeria got together with shipping lines, freight forwarders and warehouse operators in what was themed ‘Cashew Logistics Meeting.

The purpose of this meeting was to collectively tackle the challenges experienced by these stakeholders due to logistics; top on the list was spoilage of goods in transit because of long transit time to the destination countries.

The impact of this engagement was almost immediate as shipping lines offered transit times of 35 -50 days to the Far East as opposed to the 60-100 days which had been previously offered on the same routes.

Prior to this meeting, the exporters and the shipping line were working together but there was no collaboration. All of a sudden, because these shipping lines were made to understand the impact of shorter transit time on the quality of the cargo of their clients, they committed to deploying vessels with fewer transshipment ports during the cashew export season and it was a win for both parties.

It is absolutely important to identify and collaborate with the necessary parties across the export value chain for outstanding results and it is most effective when done as a team. Every time we function in silos, we lose the benefit that collaboration could have offered.

Export is not a stand-alone business. Rather, it is one that involves collaboration with regulatory agencies, financial institutions and other service providers. Who would you collaborate with today to make your export transactions seamless? Why have you not made the move to collaborate with them?