NACCIMA upbeat on BIP, NIRP, NEDEP

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has expressed optimism over the backward integration policy (BIP) on cement and sugar industries, saying the recent N3 billion investment in sugar would likely become another success story.

The chamber also expressed optimism that with public-private partnership, the recently launched Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) will lead to the country’s economic diversification.

“We can say with all sense of responsibility that some level of success has been achieved, especially for cement,’’ said Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, president, NACCIMA, in an interview in Lagos.

“With regard to sugar, progress is being made and it will take some time. But we believe it will be another success story since N3 billion has been invested into the sector,” he said, adding that progress on cassava was still slow with rudimentary techniques still being adopted by most peasant farmers.

“Our members who are business operators would definitely key into and benefit from NEDEP that has been designed to create at least 3.5 million jobs across the country through the development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, which is the engine of economic growth,’’ he enthused, stating that NEDEP, being spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, in collaboration with the BoI, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), would harness the vast opportunities in the MSME sector to drive inclusive economic growth through skills acquisition, entrepreneurship training, business financing, employment generation as well as wealth creation.

According to Abubakar, the current interest rate hovering between 17 percent and 28 percent was difficult for a growing economy like Nigeria and motivate indigenous entrepreneurs to create businesses, as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) should not just be seen as a revenue collection agency but as a trade facilitator to enhance competitiveness of local industries from imported goods.

Government should continue to identify and promote those products the country has competitive and comparative advantage of, he said further, advocating for additional incentives for industries as well as transparency to make them work more transparently.

“Our association’s position on current fiscal policies and plans is that there are good policies but government should continue to have the political will to implement them transparently,’’ he said.

On high rate of mortality of small businesses, he identified factors militating against small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as poor enabling environment, infrastructure, incentives, funding, financial xxmismanagement, lack of basic business capacity (knowledge, skills and attitude), non-recruitment of qualified personnel resulting in poor record keeping, especially accounting books. And others as low capacity to invest in R&D, ICT and e-commerce as well as limited market access, expressing optimism that NEDEP and NIRP, if implemented religiously, will reduce the mortality rate.