The Nation Newspaper

Category: Industry

  • EPA is counter-productive, says ex-Tanzanian President

    EPA is counter-productive, says ex-Tanzanian President

    Former Tanzanian President Mr. Benjamin Mkapa has advised Nigeria to resist pressure to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) because, according to him, such contract is counterproductive.

    Mkapa sounded this warning as guest speaker at a forum organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). He warned the Nigerian Government and other African leaders not to touch EPA as he likened it to a poisoned chalice.

    He wondered how the continent can be asked to allow finished goods from advanced economies. He said such agreements are not in line with the aspirations of African countries.

    Mkapa noted that African leaders should imbibe home-grown solution to address some of the developmental needs facing the continent especially in industrialisation.

    He lamented a situation where African countries are encouraged to export primary products instead of adding value to them, which in turn are sent back to Africa as finished products at a higher cost. He said this can only be likened to modern day slavery.

    “We should not follow global trend but rather work on where we have comparative advantage. Unfortunately globalisation has made it almost impossible for national concept and value chain to prosper. African leaders must come to terms with what is good for their people and pursue it,” Mkapa said.

    He also advised that African leaders should desist from following the options presented by the Europeans, but rather look to China in terms of development and adaptation.

    He said adopting the Chinese model is not only cheaper, but can easily lead to technology transfer and faster development judging from the growth of the Chinese economy in a short space of time.

    Consequently, Mkapa encouraged African countries to “undertake some degree of industrialisation to add value to their agricultural and primary products and natural resources and ultimately increase government revenue.”

    MAN President, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs said his association sees the EU’s EPA suggestion supposedly ‘appetizing carrot’ as a dagger directed at the heart of Nigeria’s industrial sector.

    He explained that they have advised government that signing the agreement in its present form would impact negatively on local manufacturing and result in shutdown of industries with heavy job losses, because of the unfair competition that will evolve.

    “Nigeria’s manufacturers are obviously unimpressed by the promised EU package of about $9 billion to the 15 members of ECOWAS, over a five year period, as MAN estimates that the Nigerian treasury could lose over $1.3 trillion revenue from a significant reduction in import duties if the EPA is also endorsed in its present state,” Udemba said.

  • PwC launches guidelines for SDG reporting

    PwC launches guidelines for SDG reporting

    PwC Nigeria on Monday launched a new report – Business Reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): An Analysis of the Goals and Target.

    On September 21, at the 2017 UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit, during the UN General Assembly in New York, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), with the support of PwC, launched the new report.

    The report, which is the first step towards a harmonised set of indicators and methodologies for businesses to report on, provides an inventory of possible disclosures per SDG at target level.

    PwC Nigeria said up until this launch, there was no single methodology for businesses to measure and report their business progress and impacts on the SDGs, and thousands of companies have been using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting standards in their sustainability reporting.

    The firms said this was despite the fact that these standards predate the ambitious SDGs agreed by over 150 world leaders at the UN Summit in 2015.

    “As more and more businesses work toward their SDG objectives, reporting on their impacts and contributions to SDGs is set to become less complex. They can now use only one common standard for reporting on their performance on the SDGs, in line with the ten (10) Principles of the UN Global Compact,” PwC said.

    It added that with the increasing interests of investors in directing funds towards businesses that are leading the way on responsible business practices, the need for businesses to be more transparent and effective in their corporate reporting has become very paramount.

    The firm in a statement made available to The Nation, explained that as technical partners and knowledge drivers to the Private Sector Advisory Group on SDGs as well as its dedication to the achievement of the UN SDGs in Nigeria, “We  are excited to bring the latest development on (SDGs) reporting to you.”

    “This gives PwC Nigeria the opportunity to finalise the localised version being prepared by the sustainability team for the private sector in Nigeria as we prepare to launch both in the next couple of months,” it added.

    The firm said undoubtedly, this ground-breaking initiative will help businesses in Nigeria to better engage and communicate their contributions to the SDGs with governments and inform their sustainability reporting at a national level.

    “We at PwC are at the centre of this and are best positioned to support your business move from sustainability to include SDG reporting,” the statement said.

  • SON to certify products within 20 days

    SON to certify products within 20 days

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said it will support the Federal Government’s Executive Order on ease of doing business through the reduction of timelines for certifying products.

    SON Director-General Mr. Osita Aboloma said as a deliberate strategy to enhance ease of doing business in Nigeria, the agency has put in place measures to ensure that test results from its laboratories are released to clients within 20 days of obtaining samples.

    Aboloma, who made this known at a sensitisation workshop on the SON Act 2015 and the ease of doing business, said the agency has also reduced the number of days required to obtain Mandatory Conformity Assessment Program Certificates to the barest minimum.

    He said the availability of laboratories and other conformity assessment infrastructure ensures that products produced in the country meet specified standards, thereby eliminating additional costs that would be incurred if they tested outside the country.

    “As a deliberate strategy to enhance the ease of doing business to all stakeholders, SON has put in place measures that would ensure that tests results from its laboratories are released to our clients within 20 days of obtaining samples depending on the product.

    “In addition, the number of days required to obtain both SONCAP and MANCAP certificates would be reduced to the barest minimum when the process for obtaining both certificates is fully automated,” Aboloma said.

  • Kaduna, others partner on innovation roundtable

    Kaduna, others partner on innovation roundtable

    The Kaduna State Government, in partnership with Verdant Zeal and PAN Nigeria,is organising the Verdant Zeal  First Innovation Roundtable for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Start-up Entrepreneurs.

    The theme is “How Innovation drives entrepreneurship: The case for SMEs and start-ups.”

    The  roundtable is propelled by the success achieved with the annual series, which has held since 2012, but with a renewed vision to impact key economic hubs across Nigeria.

    Scheduled to hold in Kaduna State,  the series will create a platform for employers of labour, e-commerce solo-preneurs and SMEs to appreciate the place of innovation in business growth.

    On the new initiative, the Executive Vice Chairman, Verdant Zeal Group and the event convener, Dr. Tunji Olugbodi , noted that in the last six years, Verdant Zeal has convened the Innovation Series, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative instituted in 2012, to examine the development of Africa, discuss the Nigerian project as well as pin-point opportunities for development and growth within the continent.

  • How BUA’s $1b investment’ll stimulate economy, create jobs

    How BUA’s $1b investment’ll stimulate economy, create jobs

    The investment of $1 billion in Obu Cement Plant in Edo State by the BUA Group is seen as a boost to the Federal Government’s  drive for investments to reboot the economy. Asst Editor OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE writes that the massive investment could change the economic landscape of the state and the country.

    With the investment of $1 billion in its cement plant in Okpella, Edo State, which, arguably, boasts Nigeria’s finest limestone depository, the BUA Group may have set the stage for the transformation of the state’s economy and, by extension Nigeria’s.

    For one, the newly-inaugurated cement plant, which has the capacity to produce three million metric tonnes of cement yearly, is seen as a big boost and a massive intervention to address the domestic deficit in cement products for construction.

    With the plant’s state-of-the-art setup seamlessly structured to facilitate the export drive, the investment is also seen as a significant boost for the nation’s cement self-sufficiency drive.

    BUA Group, according to its Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Abdul Samad Rabiu, is building the second Obu cement line.

    Rabiu, who spoke at the launch of the facility, noted that the cement plant would reposition Nigeria from a cement importer to an exporter, increase production capacity from three million tonnes to 45 million tonnes by 2018.

    He said the cement sub-sector, which accounts for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s mining sector, has the potential to shore up the $2 billion it injects into the country as foreign exchange (forex).

    Rabiu, however, said infrastructure, particularly stable power as well as policy consistency, was necessary to achieving a significant growth in the sub-sector. He said that the investment could double the sub-sector’s current 30,000 direct employment and over two million indirect jobs.

    “These kinds of investments in important sectors of the economy are not only necessary, they are critical.

    “In order to reverse our import dependency and diversify the economy, large corporations have to engage in game-changing investment in sectors such as agriculture, mining, and infrastructure, while government at all levels ensures an enabling environment for the investments to thrive,” Rabiu said.

    He said the vision of the company was to provide Nigerians with the best quality cement, using the best technology and best hands at the most affordable price. According to him, the choice of Okpella, in Estako East Local Government Area of the state, as the site for the plant, is strategic.

    “This community has the best limestone in the whole of the country,” Rabiu said, adding that the location is very good, being in the mid-west and it is very close to the cement market in the north, with excellent road networks in the south-west and to the east. “So, this place is at a strategic location to adequately distribute cement all over Nigeria,” he added.

    Rabiu also stated that the completion of the second line in the first quarter of 2018, being handled by SINOMA CBMI of China, is expected to take the company’s production capacity to six million metric tonnes per annum.

    He expressed confidence that SINOMA, with their track record and vast expertise in deploying cement plants across the world, would deliver a world-class second line for the Obu Cement Plant. “It will also meet our stringent environmental, safety, quality and technical requirements for our plants and products,” he said.

    The Obu Cement Plant utilises 9,000 tonnes of limestone and clay daily for its large-scale operations, while it produces 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 grade cement. And the plant is engineered to be the most-environmentally- friendly cement plant in Africa with the most advanced dust emission control systems.

    “Our technology has the latest filtration with capacity of less than 10 milligram per normal cubic meter. We use natural gas, which is a very clean energy for both our kiln as well as the power plant, in addition to having a very green environment,” Rabiu said.

    At the inauguration of the plant and the ground-breaking of the second line, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, pledged that the Federal Government would remove all human inhibitions to encourage investors.

    Commending BUA management for the achievement, he said the project, which is a wholly Nigerian enterprise, planned and executed by a Nigerian team, is a big boost to the economy, with the opportunities it will provide for skilled and unskilled youths of the state and the country at large.

    The Vice President noted that the plant’s output would guarantee self sufficiency of cement production for the nation, especially when BUA Group is using modern and efficient facilities with local materials. He said the company’s achievement had demonstrated that the Nigerian economic growth plan must be private sector driven.

    Osinbajo assured the private sector that the Federal Government would endeavour to make policies that would remove bottlenecks. “We will continue to create the enabling business environment and will directly assist the private sector to grow, which will in turn grow the Nigerian economy,” he said.

    According to him, the only feasible means to achieve a robust and far-reaching socio-economic development is to enable active involvement of private sector players and investors. Government resources, he said, cannot independently bridge the infrastructural and technological gap without the involvement of private sector resources.

    Osinbajo noted that advanced economies attained significance by the contributions of major entrepreneurs such as the Chairman of BUA Group. He emphasised that it was imperative to build a symbiotic relationship with committed serial entrepreneurs and investors to drive economic growth and development.

    His words: “Nation building is never judged by the number of new projects or fresh ideas that we begin; we are judged by what we complete and sustain. This country will only grow on the talent and resourcefulness of people like yourself who are ready to put their resources out and invest anywhere in the country, employ the local people in that community and add real value to the lives of Nigerians.”

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki commended the management of the company for taking the bold steps in 2015 to initiate the process of establishing the plant. He expressed happiness that the management had made success of the company, including completely turning around the acquired moribund Edo cement factory.

    Obaseki said the vision and mission of the company were in line with the state government’s economic reform agenda, adding that “the State Government is ready to make Edo an industrial haven with friendly tax policies.

    He reassured the group of ensuring the operating environment was comfortable with the promotion of responsible and attractive tax regime. The state, he said, has reformed her land management process in a fashion that makes acquisition of land, security of approvals and building permit feasible without social harassments or uncontrolled communal land administration.

    Obaseki said: “We want to use this opportunity to invite other investors to emulate the BUA Group, come to Edo State and take advantage of the great potential in the state. Edo State is rich in limestone and other solid minerals, besides its status as an oil producing state. Government is resolute about economic diversification especially into areas where we have competitive and comparative advantage.”

    The governor also informed that his administration has created the enabling business environment for potential investors to invest in an industrial park, located in Ologbo, in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, where the gas transmission line and proximity to power is expected to boost economic activities and create investments in the state.

    “We are currently designing an export processing zone with the initiative of investing in the Gelegele Port to boost production and agriculture, which is the major thrust of both the Federal and Edo State Governments’ economic diversification programme,” Obaseki added.

     

    How the BUA journey began

    The acquisition of a two million tonnes floating cement terminal labelled BUA Cement 1 in 2008 marked the company’s entry into the Nigerian integrated cement manufacturing. It was the first time the industry experienced a technology driven bulk-bagging of cement on a vessel.

    It acquired majority stake in the publicly listed Cement Company of Northern Nigeria PLC (CCNN), as well as in Edo Cement Company Limited in the same year before investing in the construction of a Greenfield three million tonnes plant in Obu.

    On the acquisition of CCNN, Rabiu said: “BUA’s investment in the cement line in Sokoto is the single largest private sector led investment in the North-Western part of Nigeria.

    “This is particularly important because Sokoto cement was the largest employer of labour in Sokoto State after the State Government, and the 60-year-old company founded by the Sardauna of Sokoto needed that investment to keep those jobs.”

    The effectiveness and efficiency of the plant in its first year of operation, which was over 90 per cent in an industry where efficiency averaged 60 per cent, led BUA to commence the construction of a second cement plant line of three million tonnes.

  • First Nigeria beer festival begins Sept 25

    All is set for the  maiden edition of the Nigeria Beer Festival from September 25 to October 1.

    The event will see Nigeria enrol in the league of hosts of Beer Festivals around the world, and boost the country’s tourism opportunities.

    The week-long event, which will be crowned with an Independence Day mega concert, draws from the success of the world-acclaimed Oktoberfest (Beer Festival) in Munich.

    Oktoberfest attracts more than 50,000 tourists to Germany every year, while other countries in Europe and the Americas have caught the bug.

    At a briefing on the festival in Lagos, General Manager of On and One Events Limited, organisers of the event, Mr. Akinola Oluwaleimu, said the festival would be held at the Lagos Atlantic City, to give it a carnival atmosphere from Day 1 to the very last second.

    He noted that the festival would promote responsible drinking among drinking-age consumers (which is 18 years and above). “It will be a gathering of the largest community of beer consumers from across the country and beyond,” Oluwaleimu said.

    He assured that the festival will be a carnival week of entertainment, sales and marketing, with economic value for the brands and the economy at large.

    Oluwaleimu added that it will provide a fitting ambience to showcase fashion and lifestyle, as well as culture in a carnival atmosphere with various beer brands and other alcoholic drinks in Nigeria, connecting with their existing and potential consumers.

    He also assured that the organisers have partnered reputable and qualified architects from Europe to design modular stands to fit into any shape or style desired by exhibitors.

    Also, Deputy Director, Creative Arts, Mr. Babatunde Annan, explained that Lagos State was collaborating with beer brewers in the country and their counterparts across the globe to stimulate the state’s economic and tourism potential.

    Annan, who represented the Permanent  Secretary,  Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Ashimi Adewale, said there would be maximum excitement during the week-long fiesta that will climax with the Independence Day Mega Concert to commemorate Nigeria’s independence.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is expected to close the festival during the Independence Day Mega Concert that will parade an array of A-list Nigerian artistes, and feature eye-popping fireworks display.

  • Dangote Foundation, GBCHealth to build coalition on health

    Dangote Foundation, GBCHealth to build coalition on health

    The Dangote Foundation and GBCHealth joined forces to forge a new model of partnership, the African Business Coalition on Health (GBCHealth) in Africa.

    Dangote Foundation Chairman Aliko Dangote shared plans to build an African Business Coalition on Health (ABCHealth) during the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. Dangote was co-host of the forum, which held alongside the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

    According to him, the African-led coalition of companies and philanthropists will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of Africans, both within the workplace and within the broader communities. The partnership, Dangote stated, will develop and deploy impactful health programmes in Africa, deepen knowledge, build evidence for future investment and strengthen co-ordination among African philanthropists, business leaders, companies and local business networks.

    The coalition is building on the leadership, reputation and convening power of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and the experience, reputation and global reach of GBCHealth. Critical issues that will be the focus of the partnership ranges from nutrition to malaria, with priorities identified and agreed by local leadership.

    Through his Foundation, Dangote has made an unprecedented grant and seed contribution to GBCHealth of $ 1.5 million over three years, as a call to action and a signal to the African business community of the importance of working together and investing in health.

    ”The time is ripe for the private sector to proactively demonstrate its value in partnering to lead a new era in development,” Dangote said, adding that the coalition could provide much needed guidance to ensure activities and investments are driving results in areas where the private sector can have real impact. Besides, it will focus on holistic and integrated solutions that cross borders. “We look forward to working with other business leaders as partners in development to drive this impact,” Dangote said.

    Co-chair of GBCHealth’s Board of Directors Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said the coalition brings together two heavyweights in the health and development arena. ”Together we have an opportunity to demonstrate how investing in health and creating healthier populations can help business maximise shareholder value, accelerate economic growth and make entry into new markets more feasible,” he said. The coalition will have five primary objectives in its first three years.

    They include incubating partnerships on priority health programmes to enhance and accelerate results; working directly with companies to optimise workplace and community health programmes; advocating for policies and initiatives that drive system-level changes. It will also create a hub of data and insights specific to Africa and African business; and curate leadership events to convene and drive action around common health issues across sectors.

    The programme will kick-off in Nigeria and roll out in business regions in Africa and beyond over the next three years. The continent currently has 400 companies with revenue of more than $1 billion yearly, and these companies are growing faster, and are more profitable in general, than their global peers.

    Coupled with these fast-moving regional leaders, small and growing businesses create 80 per cent of the continent’s employment and are stoking the engines of growth. Against this backdrop, according to Dangote, there’s a new cadre of responsible business leaders and philanthropists, who understand the value and promise of sustainable large-scale investments in African countries, and are poised to make an even bigger impact on the continent’s people and economies.

    Dangote Foundation CEO Zouera Youssoufou said: “GBCHealth has a strong track record of bringing diverse groups together to improve the health wellbeing of communities. We look forward to collaborating to build an African business community united as a force for healthier and more inclusive development.”

  • NEPAD to bridge Africa’s $68b infrastructure gap

    •Launches 5% Agenda initiative

    The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has launched its five per cent agenda campaign for infrastructure financing in Africa. The aim is to close Africa’s huge infrastructure financing gap put at $68 billion.

    The campaign highlights that only a collaborative public-private approach can efficiently tackle infrastructure financing in Africa. It also calls for institutional investors’ allocations to infrastructure to be increased to the declared five per cent mark.

    The launch took place five years after a January 2012 African Union (AU) Summit adopted the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), which set out 51 cross-border infrastructure programmes and more than 400 actionable projects in four sectors.

    According to the World Bank, the continent needs to spend $93 billion annually (44 per cent for energy; 23 per cent for water and sanitation; 20 per cent for transport; 10 per cent for ICTs; and three per cent for irrigation) until 2020 to bridge its infrastructure gap, which removes an estimated two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth every year.

    On the other hand, Africa only managed to close 158 project finance deals with debts totalling $59 billion over the decade (2004-2013), which represented only five per cent of infrastructure investment needs, and 12 per cent of the actual financial flows.

    At the launch in New York, NEPAD Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, said: “Infrastructure plays a leading role in supporting growth on the continent. At the same time, it can represent an innovative and attractive asset class for institutional investors with long-term liabilities.

    “By launching the five per cent campaign in New York today, we invite investors to take advantage of the wide-ranging opportunities Africa has to offer and move forward with what can only be a win-win partnership.”

    The launch gathered high-level international investors and business leaders, including members of the PIDA Continental Business Network (CBN), which is spearheaded by NEPAD and constitutes a CEO-level private sector infrastructure leaders’ dialogue platform on PIDA.

    The CBN is a NEPAD and AU initiative, which enables private sector members to communicate recommendations to high-level African policy makers on how to improve the investment climate for infrastructure.

    One of Africa’s most prominent entrepreneurs and active participant in the CBN, Tony Elumelu, said: “Africa is getting stronger every day with new business opportunities and innovative ideas, but what is still crucially missing is project implementation.”

    He said a coherent and co-ordinated approach was needed to mobilise institutional investors while limiting their risk exposure. “African governments need to work on creating conducive environments to attract these investments, which are so vital for the continent’s growth and development,” Elumelu said.

    According to a 2016 McKinsey report, institutional investors and banks have $120 trillion in assets that could partially support infrastructural projects.

    The report noted that as banks face additional regulatory challenges, and as governments have limited fiscal space, it is becoming increasingly urgent to unlock additional flows from long-term institutional investors such as insurers, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

    It, however, stated that for pension and sovereign wealth funds to be able to invest in large-scale infrastructure projects in Africa, a variety of issues needed to be addressed to strategically and intentionally facilitate long-term allocations.

    One of the issues, according to the report, is the need to reform national and regional regulatory frameworks that guide institutional investment in Africa.

    It also said new capital market products need to be developed that can effectively de-risk credit and hence, allow these African asset owners to allocate finance to African infrastructure as an investable asset class to their portfolio.

    All these issues are at the heart of the 5 per cent Agenda roadmap, which is the backbone of NEPAD’s campaign and is foreseen to have many impacts, including unlocking notable and measurable pools of needed capital to implement regional and domestic infrastructure projects on the continent.

    It will also broaden and deepen the currently very shallow African capital markets, whilst at the same time contributing significantly to regional integration and job creation.

    The campaign is also expected to promote the development of innovative capital market products that are specific to the continent’s challenges and potential in regards to infrastructure development.

    Furthermore, it will raise the investment interest of other institutional and non-institutional financiers that have so far been hesitant to include African infrastructure projects as an asset to their investment portfolio based on specific, concrete next steps and project suggestions.

  • How dearth of skilled artisans hurts industrialisation

    How dearth of skilled artisans hurts industrialisation

    The global artisan economy is $34 billion. Nigeria has failed to leverage this group in the informal sector to drive industrialisation and create jobs. Instead, the sector, according to experts, is 80 per cent dominated by foreign artisans and craftsmen. The foreigners are said to be repatriating as much as N900 billion from Nigeria annually, leaving many local artisans jobless. However, efforts to empower local artisans and hopefully reverse the trend are on course. Asst Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    The National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) President General, Comrade Amaechi Asugwuni, is literarily up in arms. The labour unionist is livid over the massive loss of jobs by his members to expatriates’ invasion of the local construction industry.

    “We now see Indians and Chinese taking the jobs of technicians and artisans that can be done by Nigerians. This should be unacceptable to a country in search of development,” Asugwuni fumed, putting the blame at the Federal Government’s doorstep.

    The NUCECFWW helmsman did not mince words, last week, when he accused the Federal Government of failing to halt the abuse of expatriate quota. “Nigeria should be enhancing the development of the country through provision of jobs,” he said, observing that: “Unfortunately, successive governments have been very weak in resisting abuse of expatriate quota and casualisation of workers.”

    Asugwuni argued, for instance, that the kind of jobs that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) should approve should be clearly defined, insisting that people coming into the country as carpenters under the guise of expatriates should no longer be tolerated.

    “What is expatriate about carpenters, technicians and iron benders, among other jobs done by so-called expatriates that cannot supervise projects?” the labour leader asked, adding that there are multinational companies owned by Nigerians that also perpetuate practices that dehumanise Nigerian workers.

    Asugwuni’s worries are not without justification. For long, Nigerian artisans and craftsmen have been under their foreign counterparts’ shadow, as artisans from India, Japan, China, and neighbouring West African countries, such as Ghana, Togo, Republic of Benin, Chad, and Niger take over jobs meant for Nigerian artisans in construction and other sectors.

    The affected local artisans and craftsmen, who remain idle and jobless while foreigners call the shot, include bricklayers, carpenters, steel fabricators, plumbers, electricians, tillers, painters and casters.

    Others are tailors, barbers, masons, cobblers and other micro, small and medium-scale service providers. Also included are operators in events management, automobile repairers and car washers, to name but a few.

    Former Chairman, Board of Directors, A.G. Leventis (Nig) Plc, Chief Joseph Babatunde Oke, put the foreign dominance of Nigeria’s artisan economy in perspective when he revealed that as much as 80 per cent of artisans working in Nigeria are foreigners, mostly from neighbouring West African countries.

    Oke, a mechanical engineer, spoke in Lagos, on the sideline of the public presentation of his autobiography, “A Rose For My Mother.” He expressed worries that various categories of artisans are usually imported from neighbouring West African countries to work in building and related industries since the scrapping of Trade Centres many years ago.

    The foreign artisans, he lamented, are into various aspects of the housing, construction and related industries like carpentry, iron bending, tiling, welding, Plaster of Paris (PoP) and bricklaying, among others. He said they took over those areas of trade because the few trained local artisans were aging and new ones have not been trained to replace them.

    Dearth of artisans forcing huge capital flight

    Oke lamented that the dearth of junior technical manpower and subsequent dominance of foreign artisans has resulted in huge capital flight and also worsened unemployment in the country.

    The technocrat, who is also a  member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), harped on the need to “Bridge this gap in technical manpower.”

    The Nation learnt from industry operators and stakeholders that the capital flight foisted on Nigeria by the gap in technical manpower is huge. For instance, the Chairman of Artisans and Craftsmen Training Board, Mr. Musa Mshalgaya, revealed that foreign artisans and craftsmen working in Nigeria repatriate about N900 billion every year.

    Mshalgaya, who spoke in Abuja, shortly after his inauguration as chairman, Advisory Board of Construction Skills Training and Empowerment Programme (C-STEmp), attributed the disturbing situation to the fact that Nigerian-trained artisans were aging out and new ones haven’t been trained to replace them. Besides, many Nigerians, he said, feel they have other forms of work outside artisanship and craftsmanship.

    Indeed, most artisans are aging out and retiring from their professions, while new entrants are minimal. The older artisans can hardly operate their businesses without the services of apprentices and younger workers. Both the older and younger artisans that would have, perhaps, challenged the dominance of the foreigners are faced with difficult operating environment.

    Apart from the difficulty in accessing capital, local artisans are hamstrung by Nigerians’ penchant for foreign goods/services, which manifests in lack of patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods/services. Other challenges that stand in their way include lack of supportive infrastructure, particularly power, insecurity, policy inconsistency, and insincerity amongst artisans.

    Job creation, industrialisation suffer

    According to experts, the global artisan economy is $34 billion per year industry. But Nigeria has not been able to claim a chunk of this burgeoning informal sector of the global economy to give fresh impetus to her current industrialisation drive.

    Despite her competitive advantage in this sector, given her rich cultural traditions, large army of artisans, though mostly unskilled, and unique raw materials, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country has yet to fully exploit the potential of her artisan economy to create jobs and drive industrialisation.

    Already, there are fears that technical labour skills may soon disappear completely from the development landscape, with serious negative consequences for economic growth and development, unless urgent and concerted efforts are made to halt the decline.

    This is so considering the fact that the artisan sector is believed to be the second largest employer behind agriculture in the developing world including Nigeria. Millions of people—most of them women—participate in the artisan economy, practicing traditional crafts as a means to earn income and sustain their livelihoods.

    In fact, experts said developing countries currently account for 65 per cent of handicraft exports around the world. They, however, regretted that Nigeria’s artisan sector still has a long way to go to reach its full potential as a sustainable source of income generation, employment, and economic growth for impoverished communities.

    At present, about 20, 000 Nigerian artisans particularly those in the construction industry, are said to be jobless, with many resorting to commercial motorcycle riding, popularly called okada to make ends meet.

    Others have also turned to petty trading to make ends meet, while others, for lack of means of livelihood, have taken to armed robbery, kidnapping, advance fee fraud, otherwise called ‘419’ and other vices.

    The Association of Building Consultants and Artisans of Nigeria (ABCAN), for instance, confirmed that over 20, 000 of its members across the country are without job. ABCAN took a swipe on home builders and government, accusing them of preferring foreign artisans to indigenous ones.

    To drive home their frustration, ABCAN President, Mr. Jimmy Oshinubi, threatened that if government does not stop giving construction jobs to foreign artisans at the detriment of locals, “it will result to xenophobic attack in Nigeria just as it happened in South Africa.”

    His threat underscored the need to heed Oke and other experts’ wise counsel on the need to establish a technical college that will provide training opportunities and development of various categories of artisans. Oke said the establishment of a technical college for this purpose was one of the aims of his Foundation.

    Public, private sector wade in

    To halt the impending disappearance of technical labour skills and services from the informal sector and also unleash its potential to significantly contribute to grassroots empowerment, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and industrialisation, both the public and private sectors have rolled out various empowerment programmes for artisans in the form of training and provision of capital.

    For instance, at the last count, 23,400 artisans and traders in 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory are said to have benefited from soft loans disbursed under the Federal Government’s Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), under President Muhammadu Buhari’s Social Investment Programmes (SIPs).

    The loans, which ranged from N10, 000 to N100, 000 per applicant, were paid directly to individual artisan or trader, who was expected to belong to a registered association and/or cooperative. The Nation learnt that this was to ensure that the beneficiary was peer-endorsed as credible, and also to facilitate timely repayment.

    The micro-credit scheme was a no-interest loan scheme, with only a one-time five per cent administrative fee charged for costs. Broadly, it was targeted at micro-enterprises: traders, artisans, market men and women, entrepreneurs, and farmers with the involvement of cooperatives, and executed through the Bank of Industry (BoI).

    As part of its determination to reduce unemployment rate and skill deficiency among artisans, the Governor Akinwumi Ambode led administration in Lagos State has since stepped up efforts at providing the enabling environment for young entrepreneurs, artisans and tradesmen to do business, deliver innovation, and boost the growth of the state’s economy.

    The Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment (MWC&E) does this in collaboration with Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB). It has intensified the campaign to train tradesmen and artisans in the state to enhance their productivity and upgrade their skills.

    According to the Permanent Secretary, MWC&E, Mr. Abdul Ahmed Mustapha, the state has contributed N25 billion to an Employment Trust Fund (ETF) to support small scale enterprises. He said the government hopes to encourage start-up businesses and small-scale redevelopment projects by creating incubation centres across the state.

    Individuals, corporates join the empowerment fray

    Last week, a total of 100 artisans were rewarded with a grant of N300, 000 each to be invested in their businesses, under an empowerment programme tagged “ISEDOWO” for youths from the Southwest.

    The 100 beneficiaries were the first batch of youths that will benefit from a N30 million Community Partnership Scheme by Goldberg, produced by Nigerian Breweries Plc.

    At the unveiling of the empowerment programme in the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi- Ojaja II, NB Plc’s Marketing Director, Franco Maria Maggi, said ISEDOWO was designed to equip young Yoruba men and women with the support they need to grow their businesses.

    He expressed optimism that the gesture would positively transform the lives of its beneficiaries, have spill over effects on the larger economy while also increasing income and creating jobs.

    Interested participants were required to showcase their business ideas and how it impacts the society in order to benefit from the empowerment scheme.

    More screening and selection process will continue across the seven states in the Southwest after which the brewery giant will select another batch of beneficiary artisans for the largesse.

    The thinking is that if current efforts by the private and public sector in empowering artisans are sustained, significant boost will come the way of this informal sector.

  • NACCIMA lauds SON’s support for export, import trade

    NACCIMA lauds SON’s support for export, import trade

    The National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has commended the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON)’s capacity development to support import and export.

    Its President, Iyalode Iyabo Alaba–Lawson, gave the commendation in Lagos while welcoming SON Director-General Mr. Osita Aboloma, to the inauguration of special committees of the association.

    She acknowledged the added value that SON internationally-accredited laboratories provide for import and export, particularly for agricultural products.

    Alaba–Lawson pledged NACCIMA’s support for the agency’s planned implementation of a products authentication scheme before the end of the year. She noted that such scheme was long overdue to tackle the challenge of products cloning and adulteration.

    According to her, the long-standing collaboration between SON and NACCIMA will be further enhanced during her tenure. She thanked Aboloma for his commitment to standardisation and quality assurance ideals.

    Aboloma sought the input of NACCIMA as a major stakeholder in the planned introduction of the products authentication scheme which will take off before the end of the year.

    He described NACCIMA members as critical stakeholders in standardisation, urging them to participate more in the development and review of Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) for products and services.

    Presenting a paper on “Importance of Quality Adherence to Imports/Exports in Nigeria” on the occasion, SON Head of Product Certification Mr. Tersoo Orngudwem, urged NACCIMA members to take optimum advantage of the SON internationally-accredited laboratories for import and export.

    This, according to him, will substantially reduce the incidence of export rejection and dumping of substandard products on Nigeria.

    Orngudwem said SON has over the years developed requisite capabilities in testing for export through its robust relationships with other national standards bodies across the globe as members of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).