FG mulls satellite industrial centres to promote backward integration

The Federal Government is planning to set up satellite industrial centres across the six geo-political zones of the country to promote backward integration and economic diversification.

This is expected to start immediately after the passage of the 2017 budget.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos, Emmanuel Jime, newly appointed managing director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), said the establishment of these centres would serve as a catalyst to economic diversification and the backward integration programme.

According to Jime, the present administration’s desire was to fully diversify the economy, which was why the president ordered the creation of the satellite industrial centres in the six geo-political zones across the country.

“For this to happen, NEPZA has been given the directive to anchor this and this will take effect as soon as the budget is passed,” Jime said.

He said the agency would do everything to put the country in the right direction through manufacturing for domestic market and export.

“Our plan now is to focus on the generation of employment, technology transfer and skills acquisition. Also, we will do everything to attract more Foreign Direct Investment through aggressive marketing,” Jime said.

He said creating an attractive environment for manufacturers through measures such as tax breaks, export incentives and finances, was high on the government’s agenda in line its broader aim of increasing local production.

“Producers need assurance that if they manufacture locally, their products will enter the local value chain, and we will create condition for that,” he said.

Jime said the primary engine for growth and development of any economy was the organised private sector, stressing that the government would create appropriate interventions in the forms of legal framework, policies and programmes that would support investment.

“Moreover, since we operate a mixed economy, the government is required to intervene in the provision of social amenities or services, where it is proven that if left entirely for the organised private sector, the cost will be too heavy for the average consumer to bear,” he said.

ODINAKA ANUDU