National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
A trade exhibition that offers massive opportunities for exhibitors and buyers has commenced in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.
Facilitated by BrandTell Nigeria, the trade exhibition holding at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was flagged-off on Sunday 27th November 2022 and will continue on the 3rd and end on Sunday 4th December.
Organiser of the fair, Adenike Fagbemi, said the exhibition was to hold for two days but the political rally of the ruling All Progressives Alliance (APC) disrupted the commencement on Saturday the 25th as planned.
“The exhibition was meant to be two days but because of the political rally and road closure, we had to strike out Saturday to start Sunday. We will have a full blown exhibition next Saturday and Sunday,” she said.
Fagbemi also said, there were a number of businesses participating in an exhibition for the first time. “We had vendors that made good sales despite the fact that this is their first time at an exhibition.
“This exhibition is our first major one on the mainland, we have had a couple of them on the island, but this is most likely the first as big as this that is taking place in the heart of the mainland at Surulere. It is not just about sales but the ability to launch into the deep and get exposure as expected,” she said, stating that the organisation experienced some setbacks as a result of the APC rally on Saturday.
“We had some loopholes as a result of the APC rally, we learnt a lot of things in the course of the event and we know that next week will be better,” she said.
Fagbemi however shared more on the future plans of the exhibition. “The plan for this exhibition is that we intend to do it twice a year and this is the first we are having as a major exhibition under BrandTell Nigeria.
“We have had mini fares and in the past six years we have had trainings for SMEs in Nigeria and outside Nigeria leveraging on social media. We also enlighten them on how they can maximise the social media. We have been doing this for years. We have a couple of rich vendors, when I say rich vendors, I mean value oriented vendors who cut across people that are into arts and craft, made in Nigeria products and we are looking forward to next year, we are looking at doing one exhibition in the mid-year and one at the end of the year.
“We are looking forward to next year for our business owners to get exposure, undergo training, get business trips and assess grants. We are going all out next year and in the process of teaching them, we are looking at adding values, looking into more exposure for our portfolio,” Fagbemi said.
As the BrandTell Nigeria looks forward to empowering brands and building their capacities, Fagbemi said many businesses under her watch would continue to be empowered with information through training.
“We have a lot of our business owners that do not have NAFDAC number and SON registration for their products which if they have will boost their businesses. They don’t have enough money to rent shops, now talking of NAFDAC number, these are the things we will be tabling by the grace of God next year.
“There should be SME packages for agencies that are pocket friendly, it is a lot of work. To talk of 2023, it is a lot of work already because we have been training people, it has been very affordable and the more consistent we are, the easier for us to access opportunities and grants,” she said.
Fagbemi however acknowledged the services of some of the partners that contributed to the success of the fair.
“We had the honour to partner with Clafiya, a health institute. They ran free malaria tests, blood pressure tests and gave over 600 people one-on-one medical talks and counselling at the venue,” she said.
Some of the exhibitors took turns to share their experiences at the fair.
Titeezglamourhouse, a unisex beauty salon that specialises in all kinds of braids, wigs, unisex haircuts, bridal hair, makeup, hair accessories nail fixing pedicure and manicure etc. was also at the fare.
Proprietress of the outfit, Titilade Adefioye-Bello said, it was the first time her business venture would be participating in an exhibition and thankfully she made good sales and useful contacts.
“We are here for our first exhibition. We produce wigs, we make all types of hair, we train, we consult etc. We are based in Ikorodu,” she explained.
Advising interested young Nigerians to come into the fashion industry, she said, “It is very easy to learn this trade if you have the passion for it. With passion, there is no difficult thing in this life. I have been doing it since my secondary school days, so after secondary school, I went to learn it. I learnt it within six months after which I spent three years working with my boss, and to the glory of God, today is my 11th year in the industry.
“We did pedicure for a lot of people here today. I advise young people to go into it, it exposes you and it brings you in contact with prominent people. It is very easy to start, the capital needed is not much, in fact with just your tail comb you can start and you grow from there,” she advised.
Another exhibitor at the event, Toluwalope Ololade Liyele, founder of The Bells Enterprise who is also a first time exhibitor, narrated how she started in the world of adire fabrics.
“I started in 2018. While I was on my service year, I went to Osogbo where I met my boss who had worked with Nike Arts Gallery. Then I was serving with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), he came to display what he was doing at the NYSC camp and in 2018, I went to Osogbo to learn.
Liyele, a graduate of Biochemistry from the Lagos State Polytechnic, said the training is tasking. “Physically and mentally it is tasking but it depends on your interest. If you put your mind to it, it is worth it. I signed for a month and within the three months I already knew it because he was giving me back to back training since he knew I didn’t have much time to spend there. At the end of the one month, I stayed three extra months, I decided to stay and it payed off,” she said.
According to her, the trade is very lucrative and it depends on how one is buoyant enough to invest.
“My customer base is still very small but I am thanking God. The more money you have to invest in it, the more money you will make. That is what I do full time,” she said.
On how she gets her pattern, Liyele said, “We have some old patterns and some contemporary patterns that we try to re-make and sometimes I see something that inspires me and I make it into pattern.”
The trade exhibition continues next weekend when it is expected to close.
