To drive the national quality assurance scheme by ensuring that locally-produced goods meet international standards on weights and measures, the European Union (EU) has injected 12 million euro, about N2.5bllion, into the Nigerian manufacturing sector. The move, experts say, will boost export business. Assistant Editor Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie, reports.
A major boost has come the way of operators in the export business. The European Union (EU) has committed 12 million euro into the nation’s manufacturing sector for driving the national quality assurance scheme.
The fund, seen as a shot in the arm of operators in the export business, is for the establishment of National Accreditation System in Nigeria for Standardisation of Made-In-Nigeria goods. This is to enhance the quality of Nigerian products in terms of weight and measures to ensure meeting international standards. The EU is using the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as the special vehicle to drive the scheme.
The Nigeria and West Africa Director, UNIDO, Dr. Patrick Kormawa, who disclosed this, said private sector operators have identified some issues and indicated their readiness to work with UNIDO, the EU and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
This collaboration, he said, will foster competitiveness of locally made products at the international market place. “It is one thing to produce a quality product, but if the consumers do not know the difference between high quality and low quality products, they will not demand for it,” he said.
The project, Dr Kormawa said, has the objective of improving the quality of products made in Nigeria so that they can be sold locally and in international market.
Talking on the strength of the collaboration, a Belgian investor and Vice President/Managing Director, Emrc, Mrs. Idit Miller, has said her firm, which specialises in building capacity for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, is working with African SMEs to build capacity in terms of training, skill acquisition, high-tech production processes, marketing and funding.
Miller, who spoke at the recently concluded Nigerian Raw Materials Exposition organised by the Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC) with the theme: “Achieving Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan through Raw Materials Sourcing” in Lagos, said she and her colleagues came to learn which raw materials in the country need their intervention in terms of the production and marketing process to meet international standards.
Miller said: “We are here to learn the production missing link of Nigerian raw materials to ascertain why Nigerian products are rejected overseas. We will help them bring the production process up to speed and also link them up with foreign donors who will provide the needed financing for the small scale industrialists.
“This is in addition to introducing the products to other African nations, Europe and America. The idea is also to make oversea countries interested in locally produced products such as the precious stones, marble, agro products, raw materials, in addition to semi produced and processed goods.”
She added that the firm will also support industrial value chains such as cassava by supporting stakeholders with managerial skill training and financial management to avoid common risks in business management.
The Belgian investor, however, raised issues with the nation’s business environment, noting that it is a bad omen for policies to be tied to political parties or administrations, which are over-turned immediately that particular party is out of power.
She said having been involved with SMEs in the country in the last 15 years, she has come to realise that economic advancement in the country cannot be achieved with political considerations, but rather with a robust policy that will encourage commerce, manufacturing and foreign investment.
She, therefore, called on policy makers to ensure an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and be supported with the necessary infrastructure.
Nigeria, Miller said, needs to take advantage of her position as the largest economy in Africa rather than being dwarfed by others who are less gifted in terms of size and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). She pointed out that for Nigeria to move up on the ladder and attract foreign direct investment which it desperately needs to grow her economy, there is need for the country to improve her infrastructure network, ensure sound fiscal policy and improve on the global index of doing business.
The World Bank yearly report on ease of doing business on 189 countries ranked Nigeria very poor against other Sub Saharan countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Ghana. This was why Miller harped on the need to reduce the number of documentation, administrative fees and taxation.
On his part,Emrc Senior Project Officer, Mr. Francois Kacen, harped on the need for locally produced raw materials to meet international standards and quality such as imbibing agronomics technology to avoid pesticide on agricultural produce.
He called on the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment to ensure that locally produced foods meet international standards by complying with the food and safety standards of overseas trading partners.
He said: “It is imperative for relevant government agencies to work with oversea agencies to ascertain the standards of each country before the products are exported from the country to avoid rejection at the point of entry.”
On the poor contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP, Kacen said his organisation is ready to give technical assistance to company’s involved in the export and processing business. He urged government to ease the process of registering businesses by reducing the bureaucracy involved in the process. “We offer latest professional and managerial training in Brussels. This is in addition to arranging meetings between manufacturers, donor organisations and investors,” he said.
