Nigeria’s diversification drive has gathered momentum lately as authorities initiatives push to cut back dependence on crude oil and strengthen non-oil sectors as engines of development. From the Central Bank of Nigeria’s RT200 programme to incentives provided by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the nation has carried out insurance policies designed to encourage exporters, increase international change inflows, and combine native enterprises into world worth chains.
Complementing these efforts, Fidelity Bank Plc has steadily positioned itself as one of many private-sector leaders advancing the nation’s non-oil export agenda. Through its flagship initiative—the Fidelity Nigeria International Trade & Creative Connect (FNITCC), the {bank} has constructed a worldwide platform that hyperlinks Nigerian exporters with worldwide consumers, diaspora markets, and strategic buyers.
For a rustic the place oil revenues stay susceptible to world shocks, FNITCC is greater than a company innovation. It is a deliberate software to assist Nigeria unlock new streams of international change, strengthen small companies, and showcase the creativity and resilience of its folks to the world.
Beyond Commodities: A Broader Vision
The design of FNITCC displays Fidelity’s conviction that Nigeria’s future world competitiveness lies not solely in uncooked commodities but additionally in value-added items and providers. The expo has created house for agriculture and consumer-packaged items, however equally for sectors akin to style, cosmetics, fintech, and the broader artistic financial system.
The federal authorities has additionally more and more emphasised the necessity for worth addition reasonably than the mere export of uncooked commodities. A current coverage directive on shea butter, for example, underscores this shift by encouraging native processors to refine and package deal the product earlier than it leaves Nigeria. The transfer aligns with broader industrialisation and job-creation goals, whereas making certain that the nation captures extra worth throughout the manufacturing chain—a objective that platforms like FNITCC at the moment are serving to to actualize by connecting these upgraded merchandise to worldwide markets.
FNITCC occasions are immersive and intentionally multi-sectoral.
They mix product exhibitions, breakout classes, diaspora funding panels, curated workshops, artwork shows, and even theatrical and style performances. The goal is evident: to attach the breadth of Nigerian enterprise to world markets, whereas making certain that exporters are capable of meet worldwide requirements and entry the finance required to scale.
In a press release saying this yr’s FNITCC, Fidelity Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, stated: “Since 2022 when we hosted the maiden edition, FNITCC has evolved beyond a platform for promoting Nigeria’s non-oil exports to become a veritable showcase of the immense value Nigeria has to offer the global market.”
London to Houston to Atlanta: Showcasing Nigeria on the Global Stage
The FNITCC journey started in London in November 2022. Hosted on the Novotel London West, the inaugural occasion drew greater than 100 exhibitors and 90 audio system, attracting over 1,000 day by day attendees. It unlocked commerce and funding offers price about $250 million, validating the proposition that Nigerian companies may compete overseas if given the appropriate publicity and institutional help.
A yr later, the platform moved to Houston, Texas a metropolis recognized for its power base but additionally house to one of many largest Nigerian diaspora communities within the United States. FNITCC Houston, held in October 2023, attracted over 160 Nigerian and U.S.-based companies throughout fintech, commodities, style, agriculture, and inventive industries. The spotlight was a landmark $40 million pre-export finance facility in favour of JohnVents Industries, one among Nigeria’s fast-rising cocoa exporters. The facility, organized by Afreximbank with Fidelity Bank because the native administrative agent, demonstrated how commerce promotion may very well be matched with entry to finance to ship actual outcomes for exporters.
This month, September 18-20, 2025, FNITCC is heading to Atlanta, Georgia. The alternative is deliberate: Atlanta has change into a hub for Black entrepreneurship, cultural change, and diaspora funding within the United States. Its massive Nigerian and African diaspora inhabitants supplies a prepared marketplace for ethnic and value-added merchandise, whereas its sturdy chambers of commerce and worldwide commerce networks make it a horny gateway for exporters. Fidelity can be partnering with Amplify Africa, the organizers of AFRICON, one of many largest African diaspora enterprise and tradition summits within the U.S., to amplify the attain of this version.
By situating FNITCC in Atlanta, Fidelity Bank is tapping right into a dynamic U.S. market and aligning with diaspora-led networks that may act as long-term anchors for commerce and funding flows.
Onyeali-Ikpe added: “As part of our commitment to developing platforms that promote economic growth, creativity, and sustainable trade both within Nigeria and internationally, we are pleased to announce the third edition of FNITCC. Since 2022, when we hosted the inaugural edition, the FNITCC expo has been at the heart of driving global market access for local businesses, and I am delighted that this year we will be in the city of Atlanta, USA.”
Consolidating Success and Expanding Scope
Between the London and Houston editions, FNITCC generated a consolidated deal pipeline of over $500 million. For Nigeria, the place non-oil exports are nonetheless below $5 billion yearly, this can be a important achievement. It demonstrates the potential of structured, private-sector-led platforms to enhance authorities diversification insurance policies with measurable outcomes.
FNITCC Atlanta is predicted to draw greater than 3,000 contributors—together with exporters, U.S. consumers, policymakers, buyers, multinational firms, and improvement finance establishments. Programming highlights embody B2B matchmaking classes, coverage dialogues, diaspora funding roundtables, and sector-specific workshops. Strategic sectors in focus will embody agriculture, client items, power transition minerals, style, magnificence, and inventive providers.
By positioning exporters side-by-side with financiers, regulators, and world consumers, FNITCC supplies the lacking ecosystem Nigerian companies usually lack when venturing into international markets.
Nigeria’s FX Outlook and the Case for Diversification
The timing of Fidelity’s intervention couldn’t be extra strategic. The naira has proven better stability in current months, supported by a mixture of coverage reforms and bettering inflows, serving to to revive investor confidence within the broader financial system. With world consideration as soon as once more turning to Nigeria’s huge potential, that is an opportune second to deepen non-oil export development.
The long-term case stays clear: because the world transitions away from fossil fuels, Nigeria can not afford to rely solely on crude oil revenues. Building new, resilient export pillars is important to sustaining development, creating jobs, and securing international change inflows which might be much less susceptible to commodity value swings.
FNITCC sits on the coronary heart of this shift. By showcasing value-added items, creating structured entry to world markets, and linking exporters to worldwide consumers, the platform helps convert Nigeria’s comparative benefits into tangible competitiveness. In doing so, it strengthens the broader diversification drive whereas reinforcing the rising sense of {economic} optimism.
A Shared Path to Diversification
Ultimately, what makes FNITCC distinctive is its means to carry collectively coverage, finance, and tradition below a single umbrella. It enhances government-led initiatives and continental frameworks like AfCFTA by giving exporters sensible publicity to worldwide markets. It additionally addresses the financing hole by way of partnerships with establishments akin to Afreximbank, making certain that offers struck on the expos should not simply ceremonial however backed by capital. And by spotlighting Nigeria’s artistic and repair industries, style, fintech, music, and artwork, FNITCC underscores the nation’s rising delicate energy as a supply of international change in its personal proper.
In this fashion, FNITCC is greater than an exhibition; it’s a platform for nationwide transformation. It embodies the collaboration between authorities coverage and personal initiative, whereas offering exporters the instruments to compete on a worldwide stage. From London to Houston and now Atlanta, it has grown into an establishment that’s serving to Nigeria transfer nearer to the long-held dream of {economic} diversification, reinforcing optimism that the non-oil sector can change into the bedrock of a extra resilient, export-led financial system.
