BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Investors are set to flock to Nigeria as the proposed bill mandating a minimum of 30 percent value addition to all exportable raw materials would attract Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, into local processing industries.
When passed into law, investors who currently process Nigerian raw materials abroad would be encouraged to establish processing facilities within the country, a move that will facilitate technology transfer, strengthen local manufacturing, promote import substitution and create employment opportunities.
In a chat with newsmen on Friday, the Director-General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, Prof Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso noted that scientists and researchers will visit Nigeria in droves to identify additional raw materials and develop new processing technologies.
He said: “The bill also proposes restrictions on the importation of raw materials that are readily available in Nigeria in sufficient quantity and quality. This will guarantee adequate supplies for local industries, improve access to financing for industrial activities, create jobs and positively impact the value of the naira through improved foreign exchange earnings.”
The bill, which was initiated by the Council shortly after Ike-Muonso assumed office, is currently receiving attention from the National Assembly, Federal Ministry of Justice and the Presidency.
It will also accelerate industrialisation, which is one of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on accelerating diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing and innovation.
The DG said: “Eventually, it will become law, meaning that raw materials cannot be exported from Nigeria without value being added to them. This will lay the foundation for industrialisation because local processing will be significantly expanded.”
He explained that the legislation would require exporters to add at least 30 percent value to raw materials before export.
“For example, cocoa can no longer be exported in its raw form. It must undergo some level of processing before export. This proposal aligns with the President’s position against exporting raw resources only to import finished products at much higher costs,” he added.
Ike-Muonso hinted that the Council had restructured its operations to improve efficiency and service delivery by strengthening management systems, enhancing staff performance and operating fully digitalised systems, resulting in the Council obtaining the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certification.
“We are among the few government agencies that have subjected their processes to international quality assessment and received certification for management excellence,” he said.
He informed that the Council has developed one of Nigeria’s most comprehensive raw materials databases, saying that the newly launched second-generation Nigerian Information and Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products is linked to 41 databases that provides investors, manufacturers and policymakers with free access to critical information on raw materials and investment opportunities.
As part of its statutory mandate, the Council continues to invest heavily in research and innovation, as RMRDC currently boasts of 47 patented research innovations and nearly 600 research outcomes available for commercialisation and investor engagement.
Ike-Muonso said that the Council operates specialised departments covering agro-allied resources, technology development and industrial research, alongside a Research Demonstration Plant Complex where technologies are developed, tested and commercialised.
“Our engineers fabricate and design many of the processing equipment used in our demonstration plants. We have developed more than 70 different machines for processing various raw materials,” he added.
He disclosed that RMRDC has strengthened collaboration with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, making its patented and unpatented research outcomes available to industries and investors.
The DG informed that the Council has signed a Memoranda of Understanding, MoU, with about 46 universities across Nigeria, with designated desk officers supporting research related to raw materials development and ensuring that viable innovations are commercialised for industrial use.
He was optimistic that the partnerships have strengthened collaboration between academia, industry and government research institutions.
To illustrate the potential benefits of value addition, he cited the example of oranges.
Ike-Muonso suggested that instead of exporting fresh oranges and importing processed juice, the rural processing clusters would enable local communities, particularly women, to produce orange concentrate for export.
He said that such simple processing activities would easily exceed the proposed 30 percent value addition threshold while creating jobs, boosting technology development and increasing foreign exchange earnings.
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council was established in 1988 following recommendations arising from a workshop organised in 1983 by the then Federal Ministry of Industries in collaboration with the National Institute for Socio-Economic Research and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
Comments
Post a Comment