The vice president Kashim Shettima, yesterday, said the Federal Government had joined forces with Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) to develop an actionable roadmap and policy framework that would refocus the country’s manufacturing sector.
Shettima assured us that if developed, the roadmap would be speedily implemented to effect necessary changes for the revitalization of the manufacturing sector. He made the disclosures while declaring open a three-day National Manufacturing Policy Summit at the Banquet Hall of State House, Abuja.
He regretted that the manufacturing sector, despite its crucial role in building a country driven by production and abundance, had endured a series of setbacks over the past decades. Shettima called for the prioritization of local content and promotion of made-in-Nigeria products, stating that Executive Order 003, which made the patronage of locally manufactured products mandatory, was still in effect.
The vice president observed that as a country in Africa, “a continent that has languished at the bottom of the global value chain, with its share of global manufacturing at less than two per cent,” Nigeria had no better option than to support its Indigenous firms to produce locally and increase their capabilities. The summit, according to Shettima, offered the opportunity to re-evaluate the challenges confronting the sector and proffer solutions that would resolve them.
He said a competitive manufacturing sector would reduce the inequities in the country’s economy as well as overdependence on imports. Shettima expressed satisfaction with what he saw during a tour of the exhibition. He said he was convinced more than ever of Nigeria’s industrial capabilities, creativity, and innovation.
Stressing the role of manufacturing in driving wealth, job creation, living standards, and revenue generation, he said it explained why President Bola Tinubu was focused on accelerating infrastructure projects, including roads, ports, and energy supply.
