‘56% of manufacturing raw materials imported from abroad’ 

Reginald Ike Odiah, managing director/CEO, Bennett Industries Limited and chairman of the Electrical/Electronics Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, has said that manufacturers currently import 56 percent of their raw materials from abroad.

Odiah said this at a press briefing in Lagos announcing the 3rd Manufacturing Partnership for African Development (mPAD) being jointly organised by MAN and Spintelligent Pty Limited.

According to Odiah, this was not a good sign for local manufacturers and therefore should be reduced to between 10 and 20 percent.

“On the average, we import over 50 percent of our raw materials. This year alone, 56 percent of our raw materials are imported,” Odiah, who is also the chairman of the Economic Policy Committee of MAN, said.

MAN 2014 data show that 46.71 percent of raw materials were sourced locally by domestic manufacturers, implying that 53.29 percent were imported from other economies.

“We want to reduce this by 10 or 20 percent. We need to create jobs and conserve our foreign reserves. You will find out that even for our automotive industry, 80 percent of the components are imported,’ he said.

He urged the federal government to give aids to other countries with made-in-Nigeria products, rather than provide dollars to countries in need of assistance.

He further stated that the vision of Nigerian manufacturers was to produce machines/ capital goods some day in order to reduce dependence on other economies.

He, however, added that the mPAD, a machinery expo coming up between March 15 and 17, would be an opportunity for Nigerian manufacturers to get the right kind of technology now that there was still no local capacity in this area, adding that the manufacturing expo was geared towards supporting the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), increasing local production, supporting job creation, re-tooling and building capacity, achieving self-reliance and diversifying the economy.

“We are talking with Original Equipment Suppliers (OES) that are ready to partner with us. We will also be talking with the government,” he said, stressing that the expo would bring together players in food, beverages, labelling, textiles, pharmaceuticals, plastics, electronics, ceramics, glass, automotive and cement, among others.

Russell Hughes, director of the Nigeria Manufacturing Expo, said Africa’s largest economy had greater potential than oil.

Hughes urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Bank of Industry (BoI) and other relevant institutions to help provide funds for local manufacturers who will be willing to purchase sophisticated machines at the expo, stressing that this was the only way the economy could see some rays of light.

Remi Ogunmefun, director-general, MAN, said the expo would be an international platform to showcase manufacturing machines, build capacity of plant managers, stimulate investment and promote made-in-Nigeria products in line with NIRP.

Yunusa Labaran, director for trade at the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, which is the host, said the expo was apt and timely owing to the government’s eagerness to reposition manufacturing, which had been neglected over the years as a result of overdependence on oil.

Ekemini Amos, director, projects and technical services, Thompson & Grace Investment Limited, gold sponsor of the expo, said his vision was to see Nigeria conceptualise robust engineering products design.

“The government of the day needs to realise that until the nation becomes a manufacturing one and export manufactured products to other countries, we cannot start the journey of robust economy,” Amos said.

 

ODINAKA ANUDU

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