By Jonah Nwokpoku

Managing Director, DHL Express Nigeria, Muyiwa Adeseyoju, has said that Nigeria’s booming e-commerce sector will create significant opportunities for innovative SMEs to service growing online savvy customers.

He stated this during ‘Growing Beyond Borders’ entrepreneurial training programme in Lagos, a programme designed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) understand the economic potential of international trade and the subsequent benefits to their businesses.

According to him, recent report by Ipsos, on behalf of PayPal and FNB, revealed that 30 per cent of Nigerian cross-border shoppers and online shoppers who have made purchases online from another country, have purchased goods from South Africa in the past 12 months.

He however noted that while local entrepreneurs are identifying expansion and growth opportunities across Africa, many simply do not have the know-how to capitalise on these.

According to him, SMEs are the lifeblood of the country in stimulating continued economic activity, and we believe that by empowering SMEs to seize the numerous opportunities available to them, Nigeria will continue to flourish,

The Growing Beyond Borders workshop was borne out of the same vein as the DHL Express Certified International Specialist (CIS) programme, an internal learning and development platform which has seen nearly 4,000 DHL employees in 51 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and 100,000 employees globally, receive comprehensive training on the fundamentals of international shipping.

He said: “For example, here in Nigeria, the demand for online retail is growing rapidly, with significant opportunities existing to create cross-border e-commerce partnerships through out Africa. Many SMEs develop a plan to grow their business internationally, but battle to turn this plan into a reality.

“Our Growing Beyond Borders programme will provide practical guidance on how to make the most out of the opportunities available, and assist SMEs to grow and connect across sub-Saharan Africa.

“CIS equips our employees with the specialised knowledge they need to do their job competently and confidently. Similarly, the Growing Beyond Borders workshop seeks to pass on logistics knowledge to our customers, equipping them with expertise on growing their business across borders.

“We pride ourselves on being Certified International Specialists. DHL has been shipping across the globe since 1969, and the workshop takes entrepreneurs through the entrepreneurial history of DHL and lessons learnt from dealing with a multitude of customers along the way.”

Since entering Nigeria in 1979, he said, the company has witnessed the country develop into the emerging economic powerhouse it is today through continued foreign and local investment.