How To Source Commodities In Africa: The Complete Guide For Importers & Exporters

Many international buyers want to purchase low-cost commodities from many places around the world, especially African countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and several others, but either don’t know how to find local exporters that can deliver or are scared of losing money.

In as much as finding international buyers for an export business is hard, finding reliable sellers for a commodity purchase can be a pain for most international buyers.

Asides international buyers, prospective local exporters too can have problems finding the products at the barest minimum costs that will enable them export at competitive prices.

To make it easier to find local suppliers and exporters, we’ve published several ways exporters and international buyers can find suppliers for their commodity trading business in Nigeria or any part of Africa.

See Also: How To Find International Buyers For Your Import/Export Business

For International buyers:

1). Find Brokers Who Represent Selling Companies:

Most local export companies have a host of registered agents marketing their products for them on the international market. Since many exporters have difficulties finding international buyers, they work with brokers who have higher exposure and pay them a commission on every successful trade.

As an international buyer, you can identify brokers who’re marketing products on behalf of their selling companies and buy the commodities through them.

2). Attend Trade Fairs:

Trade fairs are a great place for exporters and international buyers to meet. Here, international buyers will have access to a lot of local merchants who are supplying commodities at competitive prices.

Since there would be a wide variety of products and companies on display, finding the right exporter for your business will be a lot easier.

3). Contact The Country’s Chamber Of Commerce:

Every country’s chamber of commerce is a primary trade destination international buyers can access. Usually, they give advice on how to carry out a trade with their country and in many cases can recommend local suppliers of goods that international buyers can contact for export purposes.

4). Use LinkedIn To Your Advantage:

LinkedIn is now one of the most powerful marketing tools in the world for business to business transactions. With over 500 million members and many individuals and businesses constantly promoting their products and services on the timeline and via direct messaging every day, you can find an exporter if you narrow your search better or pay more attention to your feed.

See Also: How To Make Your First $10,000 (₦3,600,000) Exporting Commodities To International Buyers Located Around The World

5). Sign Up On International Trade Platforms:

International trade platforms like Exporters India, TradeKey, and Alibaba are great places to find suppliers of commodities of interest to an international buyer.

With thousands of businesses making different offers, you can have an in-depth portfolio of suppliers to carefully assess before you choose to commit to any.

6). Use Search Engines:

Some exporters have SEO ready websites that will enable you to spot them on almost any search engine. In your search for a local supplier from Africa, Nigeria, or any part of the world, searching on Google for the commodity you need would bring up companies who can export the item.

For instance, if you type “muscovite mica suppliers in Nigeria” on Google, you’ll find Globexia on the first page of Google.

7). Hire Local Agents On Commission Basis:

While searching for exporters from millions of miles away can be hectic, hiring locals to act as your agent in search of buyers can be a very effective approach to take. As long as they’re well paid and have enough funds to make trips on your behalf for visits to key supplier locations, finding an exporter would be faster than you realise.

8). Contact Globexia:

Globexia is a premier fast-growing commodity trading firm in Nigeria with the ability to export agricultural products ranging from cashew nuts to sesame seeds, dry split ginger, and much more including solid minerals and other commodities.

The organisation was set up by Startup Tips Daily Media to be a reputable commodity trading firm in Nigeria that international buyers can always trust to deal with if they want to purchase agricultural, solid minerals, or petroleum commodities from Nigeria.

You can visit the website here to learn more.

See Also: How Commodity Trading Works: The Complete Guide To International Trade

For Local Suppliers:

1). Join Local Associations For The Commodity You Intend To Sell:

Exporters looking to find local producers of commodities they want to export can start by joining the local associations for each specific commodity and attending their periodic regional meetings, as the local producers are mostly always registered members and would be present.

In this same associations, exporters can get periodic information about what’s happening in the industry in real time and can always know how to better source or reposition themselves competitively.

2). Visit Popular Markets In The Acute Rural/Local Regions Of The Country:

Every major commodity exported from Nigeria always has a major market where they’re sold at very low prices for exporters to purchase. The problem now is the environments they’re sold at are usually high-risk environments, and as a result, only locals take the risk of visiting the places to make the purchases for export.

3). Hire Locals Living In The Region The Products Are Produced:

As an exporter, a smart thing to do is to hire locals living in the villages and communities where the commodities you’re sourcing are produced. Their local presence will enable you have eyes on places you cannot reach and they will be able to help you consistently find more local sources of the commodity at even lesser prices to enable you export at very competitive rates.

4). Use LinkedIn to Your Advantage:

LinkedIn is a powerful tool, and from experience, some local suppliers are beginning to join, just to contact exporters. Local suppliers mostly will only sell at their production point, and so, the educated ones now go as far as finding exporters on LinkedIn who are willing to visit, procure, and export the goods.

See Also: How To Secure Commodity Trade Finance For Your Import/Export Business

To Sum It Up

Whether you’re an international buyer looking for an exporter or are an exporter looking for a local supplier, finding the right partners to work with at competitive rates is key to success. Unless you can find the right suppliers at the right price, growing your commodity trading business would be difficult.

What are your thoughts on how to source commodities or find exporters in Africa? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

An Important Point

Startup Tips Daily Media’s sister company, Globexia Limited, is a global commodity trading firm that exports agricultural products like Sesame Seeds, Raw Cashew Nuts, Dry Split Ginger, Soybeans, Dry Hibiscus Flower, Tiger Nuts, and much more agro commodities from Nigeria to international buyers around the world. The company also exports solid minerals like muscovite mica and Lithium ores, and facilitates oil and gas trade within Nigeria.

If you’re an international buyer looking to purchase commodities from Nigeria through an export company you can trust, Globexia is an organisation to work with.

You can contact us through the details below.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.