‘Local manufacturers boost raw materials sale’

From Grace Obike, Abuja

DIRECTOR-General and Chief Executive Officer of Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Dr. Hussaini Ibrahim has said sale of  locally-sourced raw materials has increased.

He said the boost was evident in the purchase of primary and secondary raw materials.

Primary includes tubers, grains, gypsum, kaolin, tropical fruits, while secondary materials are starch, fruit juice concentration, flavours, fillers, colourants and resins.

Ibrahim said the Federal Government was sourcing and procuring local raw materials to enable manufacturers look beyond the Nigerian market into Africa.

He spoke at a conference ahead of the sixth Nigerian Raw materials Expo and fifth Nigerian Manufacturing and Equipment Expo holding March 10-12 in Lagos.

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Ibrahim said the expo would create a platform for stakeholders in the raw materials value chain to synergise, showcase and trade in available resources and raw materials.

His words: “We have witnessed astronomical increase in the procurement of primary and secondary raw materials by manufacturers. Such increases includes sourcing for primary raw materials, such as tubers, grains, gypsum, kaolin, tropical fruits e.t.c, as well as secondary raw materials; starch, fruit juice concentrates, flavours, fillers, colorants, resins etc… ‘’

“The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) …will confirm this positive development. Indeed, the NIRAM Expo 2020 promises to be the biggest and the best going by increasing interest by states to participate through showcasing available raw materials within their states, as well as the enthusiasm by the private sector producing secondary raw materials.

“This is in line with the Federal Government’s diversification agenda, which encourages the country to look inwards in areas it has enormous comparative and competitive advantages, which are embedded in agricultural and mineral resources, to restructure our economy to a prosperous resource-based manufacturing.”