Set up Council for Industrial Revitalisation
▪︎ MAN, RMRDC agog

Cover image: From left to right: Interim Chairman of Pan African Manufacturers Association, Engr Mansur Ahmed; MAN President, Otunba Francis Meshioye; Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olumuyiwa Ajayi-Ade, at the NME, and NIRAM EXPO 2023 in Lagos.

By Ocheneyi Alli

The Federal Government of Nigeria is considering to privatise the country’s industrial raw materials sector for development by local or foreign investors.

Doris Anite Uzoka, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, gave this hint, during the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC)’s ongoing Manufacturing Equipment and Raw Materials Exposition, in Lagos.

At the event which will end tomorrow, themed ‘ Future Manufacturing: A Roadmap To Enabling Environment  With Sustainable Industrialisation,’ the Minister said ,” we must privatise our raw materials sector  to support  our Manufacturing industries and by focusing on value addition  and local content development; we can reduce our reliance on imported raw materials and improve the overall competitiveness of our products. 
This will also contributes to the growth of the SMEs and empower local entrepreneurs to participate actively in the manufacturing value chain.

Represented by Olumuyiwa Ajayi- Ade, a Deputy Director at the ministry, the Minister, also disclosed : ” since my assumption of  office, with the approval of President Tinubu, a Presidential Council For Industrial Revitalisation, has been established, with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy – Wale Edun, as the Chairman, and myself as the Vice Chair.
In addition, various Task Forces have been formed to effectively implement the mandates of the Presidential Council…”

In picture: A tour of the RMRDC exhibition stand by the representative of the Minister, Olumuyiwa Ajayi -Ade, led by Otunba Francis Meshioye, President of MAN, and other top dignitaries

The Minister enjoined all the stakeholders- manufacturers, policy makers , investors including the industry experts to ” let us work together to shape the manufacturing sector in Nigeria, in-line with Mr. President’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.”

There are so many projects now at the RMRDC… if only we can get genuine and willing investors to take over these projects and start the raw materials productions in large quantity.  It will go a long way in the supply of raw materials for our industries

Dr. Abubakar Aliyu, a former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology , applauded the government’s policy intention to privatise the country’s raw materials sector, given the facts that the efforts of the RMRDC alone coupled with the 100 companies operating in the sector are not enough to meeting the industrial sector’s demands for local raw materials.

Dr. Aliyu, a former Director-General of the RMRDC, spoke as the guest speaker on the topic ‘ Opportunities For Jobs Creation and Wealth Generation  with Emphasis on Raw Materials Value Addition.

He said that since the establishment of the RMRDC in 1987 till- date , it had researched , developed, patented and established 100 Technology Innovation Centers (TICs) to address local raw materials development.
All these TIC have been brought under one umbrella because of the insecurity situations across the country now.

We can hardly move  to every sites where there are raw materials to establish model factories.  This was why the TIC have been brought under one location in Abuja.

There are so many projects now at the RMRDC.. if only we can get genuine and willing investors to take over these projects and start the raw materials productions in large quantity.  It will go a long way in the supply of raw materials for our industries.

He further said that besides the 100 TICs, there are 100 individual companies  that have been producing fertiliser raw materials in Nigeria.

” Unfortunately, the 100 companies are not able to produce enough to meeting local demand.  Nigeria needs about 3 million metric tons of the urea fertiliser and 5 million metric tons of the NPk fertiliser.

We need to do more; that’s why I said if we can get correct investors to invest in organic fertiliser, I believe that after few years, we can ban the importation of organic fertiliser in Nigeria,” he said.

Otunba Francis Meshioye, the President of MAN, also the government to also  establish synergy between trade and industrial policies.

” It will be a great legacy if this is achieved during your tenure because industry and trade are under your portfolio.

In addition, it will also be great if your tenure births a new Industrial Policy for the country,” he said.

He said that beyond the government’s solutions, local manufacturers should begin to switch their manufacturing plants to Industry 4.0 advanced manufacturing technologies into their production processes, so that they can realize greater revenue and profits from their investments.

” If manufacturers can efficiently balance a combination of efficient economies of production and supply chains; strong and reputable products; loyal customers; an established logistics network; as well as reliable on-line business elements, they will be well-positioned in the future to compete favourably in the industrial marketplace,” he said.