Category: Industry

The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) has called on the Federal Government to increase the bailout funds for the revival of textile industries. Only 38 companies could be revived with the initial N100 billion given to resuscitate ailing textile industries, according to the union.

The National President of the union, Comrade Dele Hunsu, stated this at the union’s secretariat in Lagos while briefing reporters on the N100 billion bail out.

He said: “We call on the Federal Government to increase the bailout fund for the textile industry because the current economic conditions in the country does not favour the industry.

“Our concern now is on what is needed for the effective means of implementing government policies on the revival of textile industries in the country.

“We call on President Goodluck Jonathan, to review the transformation agenda of his administration so as to fast- track the revival processes of the textile sector.”

The General Secretary of the union, Comrade Isa Aremu, calling on the government to consider the issue, revealed that the bailout plan initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and implemented by the Umaru Yar’adua’s administration, should be reviewed for more funds to be injected into the sector to jump- start the economy.

He argued that the textile bailout had been misconstrued by some individuals in government as a charity to the benefiting industries.

Aremu said: “We want to make it clear to some people in government that the bailout fund for the textile sector is not a jamboree, rather a long-term loan managed by the Bank of Industry(BoI) at a single-digit interest rate as against what is obtainable in the commercial banks for the revivial of the textile industry that have been taken over by churches in the country.”

The African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) has changed its name to African Heritage Institution (AfriHeritage).

The Communication Manager of the institute, Mr. Sola Oluwadare, said the new structure is in line with the institute’s desire to go beyond applied economics and accommodate politics, good governance, foreign relations and other sectors to promote rapid and broad-based socio-political and economic development in Nigeria, and particularly with focus on Africa.

Oluwadare said with an expanded structure, the new AfriHeritage will champion renascent Africa that is democratic, prosperous and a major player in the global economy.

He said: “The Institution with the aim of becoming unarguably a leading pan African think tank, is to provide intellectual leadership in helping Nigeria and African countries through the emerging economic renaissance.” He added that the institute has contributed significantly through its researches and policy dialogue to different problems that affect the economy.

The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has warned the Federal Government against the planed increase the price of petrol. It said the planned hike is in not in the common man’s interest.

Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan, hinted that the government may increase the fuel price after consultation with people.

Speaking with reporters in Lagos, the National President, Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. Herbert Ademola Ajayi, said the plan would further increase the cost of doing business and would be a disincentive to manufacturers and local industries.

He said the OPS had in January warned the government against taking such decision, adding that as the issue is coming up again, they (OPS) will continue to speak against it.

Ajayi said: “At this time that the transformation train is moving towards the realisation of tangible achievements, it is not advisable that President Jonathan compounds the woes of Nigerians and manufacturers. That is the angle I feel the public is worried about.”

President Jonathan had at the Nigerian Summit on Tuesday, said the Federal Government would remove fuel subsidy, but noted that the government would first discuss the proposal with Nigerians before the removal.

On January 1, last year, the government without prior notice removed fuel subsidy, shooting fuel price to N141 per litre.

Following protests, the government reduced the price to N97 a litre.

According to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the landing cost of a litre of petrol is N131.10, with total distribution margins of N15.49, thus bringing the total cost to N146.59. This means that if the government eventually removes the subsidy, Nigerians will be paying a minimum of N146.59 for a litre of petrol.

The NACCIMA chief said the cost of governance at the three tiers of public government remains among the highest in the world.

“This is one delicate area that NACCIMA plans to address in its forthcoming conference, where it will reel out facts and information,” he said.

He said: “Meanwhile the issue of corruption cannot be ignored at the conference, as the health and well being of the citizens and the economy have been seriously infected with the virus of corruption, to the extent that for transformation to succeed, some form of therapy and anti-virus for discouraging further worsening of and gradual elimination of corruption at all levels of governance must be provided for.”

Ajayi said the recent increases in electricity tariff, despite the inefficient situation of electricity supply is unacceptable to the majority of Nigerians and said it needed to be reviewed in order not to further increase the already high cost of living.

He said the economy has not grown as expected in spite of on-going laudable reforms, saying that the business community continues to grapple with the usual age-long challenging operating environment, policy inconsistencies and infrastructural constraints, particularly the almost over flogged issue of power and energy.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) will reduce substandard products by 30 per cent, SON Director-General, Joseph Odumodu has said.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on the New SONCAP guidelines, Odumodu said the strengthening of SONCAP was critical to the campaign of zero tolerance for substandard products.

To achieve the target of reducing substandard products by 30 per cent, he said the agency would maintain the rules guiding the new SONCAP, adding that it would not tolerate lapses on the part of the importers, who are not ready to obey the country’s import guidelines.

According to him, these lapses are undermining the integrity and essence of SON and its mandatory roles.

“As a matter of fact, through that, the importers are ensuring that we would not deliver on our promise to Nigerians and the Federal Government. So, we want to state equivocally in this meeting, that we would not tolerate such lapses again,” he said.

Odumodu noted that under the new regime of scheme , importers are expected to undergo verification and testing at country of supply and a SONCAP certificate (SC) issued, demonstrating that the product met the applicable standards and regulations.

According to him, the conformity assessment elements undertaken in SONCAP, includes but not limited to physical inspection prior to shipment, sampling, testing and analysis in accredited laboratories, audit of product processes and systems.

He said SON needs a SONCAP programme that would serve its purpose, a programme that would be dynamic, where all identified loopholes would be effectively plugged, thereby making it difficult for the plague of substandard products to continue to dominate the Nigerian business space.

“It is as a result of this that we have reviewed the SONCAP to serve this purpose. You will agree with me that the society we live in is dynamic, always embracing new things and improving on previous standards. The same way, we needn’t have to review SONCAP if everything was perfect with it,” he said.

He said under this new regime, importers are expected to undergo verification and testing at country of origin and a SONCAP certification and be sure that the products meet the applicable standards and regulations or a Non-Conformity Report (NCR), where the goods do not comply.

The SON boss pointed out that as far as the organisation is concerned, the scheme itself has entered a critical stage due to the increasing expectation of Nigerians.

“So, we are here to see what we could contribute to ensure that this programme meets the expectation of Nigerians, that it actually contributes its quota to the realisation of the broad economic programmes of the Federal Government,” he stressed.

He noted that SONCAP has scope to cover all imported goods with the exemption of food products, drugs (medicines), medicals other than equipment and machines, chemicals used as raw material by bona fide manufacturers and military wares and equipment.

Any employer that refuses to remit one per cent of its workers’ yearly salaries to the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), risks three-year jail term, Director-General Prof. Sambo Wapmuk, has said.

In a paper he delivered at the ITF –Port stakeholders forum in Lagos, he said the penalty was prescribed by the law establishing the ITF.

He charged firm’s to ensure remittance to enable his organisation to build at least four skills training centres yearly, provide direct employment and empower the youth with employable skills.

According to him, remittance will help in providing the necessary skills for industrialisation and development, as well as reduce unemployment, youth restiveness and insecurity.

ITF, Wapmuk said, is not resting on its oars to narrow the unemployment gap and boost industrialisation.

He said through its National Industrial Skills Development Programme, ITF seeks to train 1.2 million youths yearly in various trade areas, such as manufacturing, agro-allied business and construction.

He said the programme is a response to the dire skills shortages identified through studies by the ITF, in conjunction with the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), in 2006,and also the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) last year.

“The thrust of the programme is, therefore, to shore up the skills gap in the economy by building the capacity of youths so that they can be employed by others or be self-employed’’.

He also said to escalate skills acquisition for the nation’s industrialisation, the ITF has among other things, identified training needs with NECA and UNIDO.

According to Wapmuk, the agency is also floating a skilled manpower development programme initiated under a collaborative association with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

The project, he said, is tagged: “Technical Skills Development Project” (TSDP). He said the fund is also developing job specification documents and at the moment, training 110 staff of the Dangote Cement Group for one year.

According to him, the agency is also coordinating and sponsoring a National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), which has taken off in 10 states under its first phase.

How can productivity be enhanced? It is by paying attention to infrastructure, security, law and order, investment, consistent policy, incentives and corruption, says Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UAC of Nigeria Plc Larry Ettah.

Ettah, who is first Vice President, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), was delivering an address entitled: Strategic perspectives for promoting enterprise competitiveness and enterprise rights, during the NECA Annual Retreat in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

Ettah said the country has made some improvement having moved up 12 places from the previous year rating.

Ettah, however, said there were still challenges in infrastructure, security, health and primary education and institutional environment and undue influence.

He urged the government and private sector to close ranks in tackling the intractable security problem which perhaps contributed to the one per cent decline in gross deomestice product (GDP) growth, suggesting better funding and decentralisation of security services as viable options.

He said human capital deficiencies in education and health were significant factors in Nigeria’s low competitiveness.

He advocated Improvements in public education and health services through increased funding, public-private partnerships, investments in training and welfare of teachers and doctors, enhancing infrastructure and equipment which in turn would enhance the quality of human capital and business competitiveness.

“Current efforts to improve the quality of services in critical government institutions, particularly Customs, Immigration, Ports, Corporate Affairs Commission, NIPC, FIRS and MDAs and regulatory institutions in Nigeria must be accelerated. Anti-corruption efforts and enforcement must also be stepped up if business competitiveness must be improved. This is so because corruption is a major negative factor in business competitiveness as it introduces higher costs, uncertainty, capriciousness and market distortions into the operations of businesses,” he stated.

He called for special attention to be focused on the industrial sector in terms of policy and incentives to improve sector competitiveness. The incentives, he maintained, must be sector specific rather than to individual companies as this is susceptible to abuse.

Former United Bank of Africa (UBA) Managing Director Tony Elumelu has asked the Federal Government to encourage entrepreneurs to make sustainable investments in the economy.

Such investments, he said, would form a new approach towards building competitive industries in Nigeria and Africa, he said.

Speaking at a lecture in honour of 50 entrepreneurs,under The Nigeria50 initiative, Elumelu said Africa remained the world’s investment destination, despite several challenges, especially in infrastructure.

He said the government should make the business environment conducive for local and foreign investors, to enhance the competitiveness of indigenous goods and services at home and abroad.

According to him, investors need to be asking the question: what does Africa have to offer? This is the opportunities are tremendous in terms of return on investment, abundance of mineral resources and availability of big markets.

“We are committed to developing the future leaders of industry in Africa. The Tony Elumelu Foundation has dedicated itself to the promotion of entrepreneurship, and the creation of an enabling environment for business leaders to reach their maximum potential and transform their communities. This is how economic prosperity for all will be achieved; this is what adds social value to the people of Africa,” Elumelu said.

World’s foremost expert on business strategy and co-founder, AllWorld Network, Prof. Michael Porter, said: “It is entrepreneurs who are going to change the developing world, not governments. The Nigeria 50 companies represent the leading edge of a new approach to the region’s competitiveness.

“All 50 companies demonstrate Nigeria’s capacity for dynamic growth and investment,” said Elumelu.

He added: “These are African entrepreneurs investing for the long term in Africa, driving Nigeria and Africa’s economic development,a key pillar of ‘Africapitalism.’ They are showing that the private sector has what it takes to turn economies around dramatically.”

In fulfilment of its mandate to promote entrepreneurship and competitiveness in Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation hosted its founding patron, the world’s foremost expert on business strategy and competitiveness, Prof Porter, at lectures and events intended to inspire and improve business leaders from around the country.

Porter also met with members of the recently-inaugurated National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria (NCCN), which is chaired by the Minister for Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga.

He delivered the lecture on how to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the Nigerian business environment. Improved performance in this area, he said, would help Nigeria’s private sector become more productive and competitive.