Erisco Foods wants govt agencies to support industrial revolution

Eric Umeofia, president and founder of Erisco Foods Limited, has urged government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to support the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s target of achieving agricultural and industrial revolution.

Umeofia made this call at a press conference organised by Association of Agricultural Products and Equipment Manufacturers in Lagos.

According to him, industrial revolution can only happen when government agencies begin to support indigenous manufacturers, removing all barriers inhibiting their success.

He particularly pointed fingers at the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, saying that it is supposed to lead the pack of industrial progress of the country, saying that the ministry should be fair to both foreign and indigenous manufacturers. He further said that favouring foreign investors at the expense of the indigenous players will bring bad blood and make it hard for the Federal Government to hit its target.

“I am not saying that foreign investors are not good. We need them here, but we only need good ones who are interested in developing the country,” Umeofia said.

“But we do not need those who come in here with the intention of sabotaging our economy. They come here, collude with people and get all the benefits, only to leave for their countries with the money they make here,” he said.

“Indigenous manufacturers are the genuine investors. So let us save them,” he stated, while calling on the central bank to allocate forex to his company to enable it produce enough tomato pastes for the country.

“You need to be fair, whether you are a foreigner or an indigenous manufacturer. We are genuine because we have had the opportunity of working in other economies,” he said.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is a Nigerian federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health, which responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, among others.

Umeofia said NAFDAC has failed to mop up substandard tomato pastes in the market, despite that the agency’s investigations showing that 91 percent of them are health risks.

Umeofia said recently that he would shut down his 450,000 capacity tomato paste factory in one month owing to FX frustrations and lack of support. He said indigenous manufacturers could not afford to see foreigners steal their investments, adding that he is yet to get dollars with which to import machinery and packaging materials.

“Right now, my application has been in my bank for weeks but nothing has come out of it. Innoson has not got. Other genuine manufacturers cannot also get. It is the Indians, the Lebanese and the multinationals that are getting, making them overnight billionaires. Genuine manufacturers suffer but importers get and expand their import capacities,” he told Real Sector Watch, in an exclusive interview, recently.

ODINAKA ANUDU