How to Build a Successful Exportation Business in Nigeria: 2025 Beginner’s Roadmap

Exportation business remains of the most profitable businesses not just today but from time immemorial even before the first Century. Before the birth of both Jesus and Prophet Muhammad, there existed people who practiced exportation business. During those days, exporters would have to just go with their crops, minerals or livestock to other foreign towns without knowing if there is need for such things in those countries or not.

But things have become very easy today because exporters nowadays may even receive orders for such goods before they are exported, or he or she have patronage for the goods he wants to export before embarking on the venture. Exportation business can even be done by government retirees.

In this article, I shall be taking you round through the process of exportation business from the idea level until your first goods are exported and sold successfully, but before we go into the real business of the day, it is important for us to understand what the term exportation mean and especially in the context we are using it.

What is exportation?

The term exportation can be defined as the process in which goods (visible) or services (invisible) are transported across borders and sold in a foreign country thereby expanding the market reach and also earning foreign exchange (FX).

Okay,  let’s say if a farmer from Benue after harvest decides to ship his crops and sell in Ghana that farmer has exported his farm produce and the purpose of the exportation business is to sell and primarily maximize interest and also earn foreign exchange which in this case he or she may be paid in Ghana Cedis.

Exportation business in my own view is a very lucrative business even though it requires a lot of capital to start, because the process involves getting licenses, registration of the business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and so on. But there is a very huge benefit if you want to start. I will encourage you to do so.

Types of Exportation

In the definition of the term exportation, we made mention of basically four key things which are the exporter or person who is exporting goods or services, the country where the exporter hails, the products he or she is exporting and the country where those goods or services are to be exported to.

The types of exportation business lies in what the exporter is exporting, which could either be goods or services. The following two are considered as types of exportation:

1. Visible Export: This is the exportation of physical goods which can be seen and touched, such as drugs, clothes, cars, crops, solid minerals, crafts and other physical products.

2. Invisible Export: unlike the visible export which involves transporting and selling of physical goods, this type of export is directly the opposite. It is the export of services. Services are skills or knowledge so they cannot be seen until it’s rendered to produce a result.

Why Exportation Business is considered profitable

Nobody would want to venture into any business that is not profitable, because the primary aim of every business venture is to maximize profit. Exportation Business is very profitable and this is because of the following five major reasons

(i). Access to larger market: You cannot start an export business with just one ton of peanut, you would want to export up to 500 metric tons of peanuts because you have access to a very large market for the peanuts. Sometimes you are exporting to a company that produces peanut oil and maybe they are three or upto even ten different companies needing you to supply them with the raw materials (peanuts).

That is why you have to first do your due diligence and market survey before shipping goods to where there are competitions for it. You export products that are common in your locality or country but are not available in other countries where you want to be exporting to.

We don’t grow Apples in Nigeria, So Israeli farmers can export Apples from Israel to Nigeria because Apples are needed in Nigeria but are not cultivated in Nigeria, so even 1000 trucks full of apples can be sold easily when exported to Nigeria.

(ii). Higher profit Margin: profits made from exported goods or services are much higher than when the same goods or services are sold or rendered within. The reason is because the goods or services are abundant in country where the exporter lives.

Take Nigeria as a case study now, Nigeria produces cocoa on a very large scale, then definitely cocoa will be very cheap in Nigeria considering the law of demand and supply, the same cocoa when exported to countries where they are not grown will be sold more costly because the demand for it will be higher than the supply.

(iii). Favourable Foreign Exchange: As an exporter, you are no longer selling your goods or services in your domestic currency, you are earning in foreign currency and this protects your business from the unstable fluctuation of your country’s local currency such as the Nigerian Naira.

For example, if I export Benue yams to UK, I will earn in Pounds (£) and the devaluation of Naira may not affect my business.

(iv) Government Support: When a country exports more than it imports its economy becomes more Stronger and its currency stronger too.

For this reason, government offer support to exporters for the kind of economic support they are contributing to the country’s economic growth.

These supports ranges from tax waivers, non-interest loan or policies that strengthens ties with other countries, making those countries to also replicate by easing some stiff import policies given a soft way to do business profitably in those countries.

(v). Risk Diversification: The economic downturn of your country may not have impact on your business because you are selling in different countries and different markets.

This is because the other countries are not experiencing the same thing as your country’s economy.

Exportable products in-demand (Agro, Solid Minerals and Crafts etc)

There are products available in larger or even excess quantity in Nigeria but not common in other countries.

For example the apples and the berries we eat here are not common or cultivated in Nigeria, so in this case, there is a high tendency of demand for the apples and berries in our country.

This could similarly be the same in other countries too, most of the crops we grow or cultivate in Nigeria are not grown in other countries due to soil type and weather and climate conditions. Some of high demand products for export are:

• Agricultural produce: These includes Crops like Sesame Seeds, Cocoa, Ginger, Cashew Nuts, Yams and dried Cassava.
• Solid minerals: These includes limestone, gold, iron ore and many others.
• Craft: These are the handmade item that can be worn or used as ornaments to decorate environments, living rooms, offices and museums e.g paintings, locally woven baskets, textiles and so on.

Registration Process for Exportation (NEPC, CAC)

After you have done the market survey and study the export business, it is time to begin the registration process. I will take you through every step of the registration to ensure you have the right documents that complies which the regulatory provisions for exportation.

The following is a step-by-step process for the export business registration:

Step 1: Reserve a Company Name: you cannot just obtain a company registration certificate from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), you must first reserve two company names. After review of the names one will be approved, and then an availability code will be sent to your email. You need that availability code to proceed with the registration.

The registration is done on the CAC portal which can be accessed through https://www.cac.gov.ng. It used to take two to three days but the review time is now done immediately as the commission has integrated Al tool which now does the review more faster.

Step 2: Register your Company: With the availability code sent to you via email, use it to complete the registration process, you cannot register a company alone, you need other directors, a secretary and an accountant to be shareholders of the company.

Though the easiest way here is that many people use their family members to achieve this, sometimes the man is the director of the company, his wife is the accountant and either his brother or son is the secretary. All these people must sign a mandate form.

Step 3: Get a Tax Identification Number (TIN): Your CAC certificate will be generated immediately since AI has been integrated into the system unlike before when people used to wait for weeks. After the CAC registration you need a tax identification number.

Only the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) can issue TIN but again the process is now streamlined, once you have registered with the CAC, the certificate automatically comes with the Tax Identification Number (TIN). So there is no need of going to FIRS any more.

Step 4: NEPC Registration: After completing the registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission, go to the nearest Nigerian Export Promotion Council office and register as a potential exporter or visit their website https://nepc.gov.ng to do the e-registration.

There is one more things you must do on the portal before hitting the learn more button which is “Export Readiness test”.

There is a checker form that you are required to fill to show your export readiness status, there after obtain the Export Certificate, you must register online and according to the new NEPC procedure the registration can only be done online.

The Certificate you obtained here serves as an export license also.

Market Research, and Buyer Sourcing

As a potential exporter you have to do your market research and also source for buyers because you cannot afford to ship your goods to a particular country before looking for who to buy them.

Doing your own market research will help you if your intended country has other exporters from other countries which might result in some strong competition, especially for a newbie like you who is just starting. So it is essential for you to carryout your own market research beforehand.

This can be done through data from government agencies like the Nigerian Export promotion Council (NEPC), The Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and  to some extent the Nigerian Shippers Council may also have relevant data too.

You can source for buyers through the agencies mentioned above and other ways like social media platforms, SEO through Search Engines like Google and Bing and also running Ads on social media, export conferences and summits. You can also use emails and cold calls as well.

You can also try to talk to people who have been in the business before you to connect you with some of their clients.

This is possible because if they had clients in Senegal and are now exporting to Denmark, then they can happily connect you to the clients in Senegal which may also be your starting point.

When doing market research, make sure to also check about government regulations which will help you to prepare before time.

Export Logistics and Documentation

Having gotten your mind acquainted on all the preliminary stages involved in the business of exportation, even though in the definition we included services which are rendered by humans, this part only covers physical goods.

Export logistics here is talking about how the goods bought and prepared for export can be transported to the intended country where it can be sold.

The process involves a lot of documentation to show the legality of the goods being transported.

The following are the mandatory documents required for the shipping of the physical goods.

1. Packing list: This document shows in detail all the goods packed, their content, weight and even their dimensions.
2. Certificate of origin: This particular document shows the exact location where the goods being transported originated from and where it’s going. For instance, if I’m exporting Cocoa to Japan, I will need this Certificate of Origin to show that the goods being transported are from Nigeria and began it journey from Nigeria too.
3. Bill of Lading (B/L): This is like a ticket obtained in a motor park which proves that you actually boarded for the vehicle and it also shows that you had a contract with the vehicle owners to convey you to the destination you paid for. So also is a bill of lading, it serves as a carriage contract receipt for your goods proving that the carrier owe you an obligation to transport your goods to the destination you paid for.
4. Commercial Invoice: Just as the name implies, it is an invoice from you the exporter to the importer detailing the goods, its quantity and the total cost of the goods.
5. Insurance Certificate: This is a document that proves that shipment is dully insured against unforeseen circumstances especially accidents or other form of damage. It also shows the level of coverage as well.
6. Air Waybill: this is the same as a bill of lading but it is used for freight.
7. Export License: This document is a form of permit issued by the government shoving that certain goods are legally permitted to be exported to certain countries which could be relevant when the destination for your goods is also inclusive.

Financial Management for Exporters

Exporters especially the ones we have in Nigeria must be prudent, transparent and discipline in order to manage their finances effectively.

Managing export finances involves total ways and to secure operational cash, proper management of the cash flow and of course finding ways to mitigate any form of potential risk beginning from the pre-shipment down to post-shipment including any loan facility and to ensure that from production to payment everything works without issues.

These includes keeping records of all transactions both outflow and in-flow, tracking all foreign currency exchanges, auditing all expenditures and expenses, keeping records and staying updated on taxes changes and so on.