Govt unfolds Industrial development agenda at CICAN 2018 Public Lecture/Summit

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Reeling out a list of achievements at the weekend in Lagos, the federal government has assured that a lot is in the offing at turning around the fortunes of the nation’s industrial sector and indeed the economy.

The Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment-Dr Okechukwu Enelamah- gave the assurance at the 2018 Public Lecture/Summit of The Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria(CICAN) in Lagos where the President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)-Mr Babatunde Runwase- also stressed the imperative of a strong economy to the nation’s industrial nay national development.

 

According to the Minister, arrangements are ongoing with the World Bank for the expansion of the GEM project so that the investment and intervention therefrom would ensure increased support for entrepreneurship and the creation of more jobs.

“It is pertinent to note that a large amount of GEM’s intervention that are aimed at creating jobs are not yet matured, therefore more jobs are expected to be created as this investment/intervention begin to yield results.The GEM project is indeed a pilot that could be repeated”, Enelamah stated.

Besides, the minister disclosed that the Bank of Industry (BOI) is collaborating with 21 state governments to implement the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) programme which provides discretionary funding for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and entrepreneurs that are interested in starting their own businesses.

According to him, the bank’s total lending to Micro, Small, Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2017 was over N112.5 billion. Enelamah also assured that government is vigorously pursuing the implementation of the One-Local Government, One Product (OLOP) Programme which is expected to generate over 4,900 new jobs, just as it is committed to the upgrading of Industrial Development Centres (IDCs), through a grant from the African Development Bank (ADB) for conversion to MSMEs cluster parks. He also listed the ongoing implementation of the Nationwide MSMES Clinics which started in Aba in January, 2017 and has spread across the country with the remarkable efforts of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as another industrial development effort.

The Minister further stated that, in an acknowledgement of the fact that the capital needed to transform Nigeria to the country of the citizens’ dreams cannot be funded entirely from the government, it has sustained its partnership with the private sector  to attract investment.

“We have therefore strengthened investment promotion capabilities of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), with focus on proactively targeting and tracking domestic and international investors and investments”, he disclosed.

The minister listed other efforts which he said would guarantee improved fortunes for the industrial sector as follows: “Led by President Mohammadu Buhari, the government has worked with other countries and global businesses to facilitate a number of high profile investments into the country. Nigeria is the number one investment destination in Africa, with announced investment commitment of US$66.36 Billion in 2017.

Only recently, through bilateral talks with the United Kingdom, Germany, and China, we signed Memorandum Of Understanding (MoUs) for investment commitment totaling several billions of dollars. They include:

 

  • With United Kingdom:

Nigeria and United Kingdom signed the UK-Nigeria Economic Development Forum agreement to establish a Joint High-Level Forum on Economic Development, which will provide a platform for the UK and Nigeria to:

Deepen the bilateral economic development partnership;

Strengthen bilateral discussion on growth, investment and jobs; and,

Provide a forum where high level trade, investment, economic development and discussions will take place.

  • With Germany

Nigeria formed partnerships and signed MoUs. The MoUs are:

German-Africa Business Delegation/NACCIMAMoU between the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, (NACCIMA) and the German-Africa Business Association.

 Agreement between the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL)and the PETKUS Technologie GmbH- a company that specializes in post-harvest agricultural value chain.

An MOU between the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and VOLKSWAGEN for the establishment of an automotive hub in Nigeria

 

  • With China

A total of 13 MOUs were signed, including the MOU signed by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment with Shandong Ruyi International Fashion Industry for USD 2 billion investment in an ambitious cotton value chain revitalization project.

The investment would comprise:

o aggregation and offtake of cotton from farmers for ginning, spinning and weaving;

o manufacturing at least 300million metres of African Print, which will meet 20% of West Africa’s demand; and

o producing cotton and denim garments for export and local consumption.

The locations and siting of investments by the Ruyi Group include Eyimba City in Abia; Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos; and Kano Free Trade Zone, Kano.

The Minister then declared on an interesting note: “Nation building is a long term thing. It takes a generation to build a nation. It can’t be done in four years”.

To Runwase however, Nigeria’s industrial nay national development challenges are because successive administrations have failed to focus on how to ensure a strong economy by appropriately encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship.

According to Runwase: “We need a strong economy to support our democracy, create jobs and alleviate poverty. We need a strong economy to guarantee security and ease social tension. We therefore should continually emphasize the values of entrepreneurship, enterprise, hardwork, professionalism, excellence and integrity in our economic environment. These values are essential for a sustainable wealth creation process”.

The LCCI boss als stressed: “It is the entrepreneur that makes things happen in an economy. They are the drivers of the economy and the creator of wealth. An economy can only be as robust as its entrepreneurs. Therefore, if we must make progress in our econmy, our private sector would have to play a role”.

CICAN Chairman-Mr Toba Agboola- assured that the association would continue to provide opportunities for dialogue between public/private operators in the economy as a way of fostering necessary partnership for industrial nay national development.

 

The Caption Photo:The Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment-Dr Okechukwu Enelamah


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