Post taken from West African Trade Hub
West Africa Trade Hub - Conference connects the industry - and business does the rest.
On a recent sunny afternoon in Minna, Nigeria, Thompson Ogunsanmi had a list of new developments in the area’s shea sector to share. It was a long list.
Activity in the shea business has increased rapidly in the last year thanks at least partly to last year's industry conference and the concentrated efforts of shea stakeholders in Nigeria. With “Global Shea 2010: Maximizing Quality, Expanding Markets” set for March 16-19 in Bamako, Mali, many are expecting it to increase even more.
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“Shea 2009 allowed Nigerians to see what was happening in Ghana and Burkina Faso and elsewhere,” said Ogunsanmi, who supports Niger State shea stakeholders through the German Development Cooperation, GTZ, and its Employment-oriented Private Sector Development Programme. “And they saw that there was some real potential in shea. When we got back from the conference, things really began to happen.”
“It was an eye-opener for us,” said Ahmed Kontagora, director general of the Niger State Commodities and Export Promotion Agency. “We are going to Mali for Global Shea 2010 in a big way so we can ensure we have gotten a market.”
