By Ibrahim Kado
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has empowered 107 Adamawa stakeholders with Technical skills on Oil Seeds/Oleaginous Fruits to leverage opportunities in the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the engagement is “Achieving Product Competitiveness with Zero Export Rejection under the CEPA”.
Mrs Nonye Ayeni, NEPC’s Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, represented by Director, Product Development, Mr Macpherson Fred-Ileogben, said that he considered the theme of the event very important in many ways.
“Especially at this time the world trade in agricultural produce/commodities has become highly competitive, fundamentally because of food safety considerations: coupled with demands for Global Best Practices.
“The CEPA between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was signed on Jan. 13, 2026. It aims at establishing a framework for reciprocal tariff elimination on goods traded between both countries.
“Transform economic ties between the nations, covering over 7,000 Nigerian products, providing immediate duty-free access for 2,805 agricultural goods like Fish, Seafood. Oil seeds, Cotton, Fruits, Cereal, Vegetables Leather and Chemicals,” he said.
According to her, Adamawa in the North East region, remains a hub for all seeds/oleaginous fruits such as Cotton Seeds, Soybeans, Groundnut, Sesame, Sunflower, Shea nut and others.
Ayeni added that this formed part of the state’s agricultural export and commercial strategy.
He also assured that the council would continue to work with critical stakeholders to ensure economic diversification for a vibrant and sustainable economy was seamlessly achieved.
Mr Anani Egon, NEPC’s Regional Coordinator, North-East assured the beneficiaries that the council would remain committed to providing the necessary support, guidance and linkages to ensure the cluster became a model, not only in the state of Adamawa, but across Nigeria.
He appreciated Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa for providing the enabling environment and supporting efforts to promote sustainable export trade in the state.
Mr Ishaya Dabari, Commissioner, Ministry for Commerce, Trade and Industry, Adamawa, represented by the Director of Commerce, Mr Ahmed Hamma, commended the NEPC for the technical support for economic development of the state and country at large.
He urged the participants to actively participate and apply the knowledge into practice toward achieving the objective of the programme.
In his remarks, Mr Jibrin Bukar, National President of Sunflowers, Drawers, Processor and Marketers Association, said he was one of the major producers of sunflowers in Nigeria.
He advised the producers to take advantage of the opportunity and understand that the sunflower oil rated the second best in terms of health benefits and third most consumable foods in the world after soya and palm (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)