The Nation Newspaper

Tag: small-scale

  • Lawmaker supports small-scale entrepreneurs

    Lawmaker supports small-scale entrepreneurs

    Committed to the well-being of members of his constituency, the member representing Mushin Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Bolaji Yusuf Ayinla, has given a boost to businesses of not less than 230 small-scale entrepreneurs in Mushin.

    At the empowerment programme, he gave them some items to either start their own businesses or practice the trades and skills they have acquired.

    Beneficiaries included the old, young, artisans, technicians, traders, small-scale entrepreneurs, widows and some vulnerable people. The event took place at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), Lagos.

    The items which were distributed to the beneficiaries at the event tagged: ‘BYA Economic Empowerment Scheme 2016’ were 10 tricycles, 12 motorcycles, 25 pepper grinding machines, 10 power generating sets and six welding machines.

    Others were two block moulding machines, five vulcanising machines, 40 sewing machines, 30 generating sets and clippers; 28 pop-corn machines, 20 hair dryers, 10 deep freezers and 31 Coca-Cola refrigerators with accompanying products.

    Ayinla said the items were what the beneficiaries requested for when he met them at a town hall meeting in November last year.

    “During the last stakeholders/town hall meeting, the dominant request was economic empowerment for our small-scale entrepreneurs, artisans, technicians, community development association, market men and women, widows and vulnerable people in my constituency. Today’s economic empowerment programme is a follow-up to the stakeholders/town hall meeting.

    He promised that nothing would be spared to ensure that Mushin is known for progress rather than for fighting and hooliganism, which he said used to characterise the area.

    The lawmaker appealed to the people not to fight or shoot at one another again, even as he urged them to think of how to develop the area.

    He thanked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for ‘working tirelessly to develop the state for the betterment of the people.’

    He said: “It is pertinent to admit that the items to be distributed today are not enough to go round due to the avalanche of the needs of our people. A popular proverb says ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step’. Today, we have succeeded in cracking the hard nut of poverty,” he said. He promised that the programme would be a continuous one.

    Addressing reporters later, the lawmaker said the empowerment programme was specifically designed to empower the people of the constituency, adding that there was a difference between needs and wants.

    He explained that there are various empowerment programmes in the country, but that some people don’t ask the beneficiaries what they want, saying that he gives the people what they want each time he organised such a programme.

    He said: “A situation where people beg for money is not okay by me. If you are earning N3, 000 a day, then it would be better for you rather than begging for money from other people.

    “This is a continuous exercise. I will not rest until my people are satisfied because I want my constituency to be better. I want people to know Mushin for better things rather than for fighting. I want the people of Mushin to work and earn money. I want them to be hard working and for us to attract better development to our constituency,” he said.

    The lawmaker maintained that he had been empowering people right from his days as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, and that he travels from Abuja to Lagos every Friday to identify with his people in Mushin.

    He revealed that the purpose of the constant visit was to listen to his people so that he could feel their pulse, and that a lot of them don’t know their rights.

    BYA emphasised that if anybody cheats someone or does anything the person doesn’t like, the fellow ought to write a petition against the cheat, while promising to spring another surprise as a representative of the people in the next  two or three months, adding that “you have not seen anything yet. I will not rest until my better becomes best.”

    The lawmaker called on Nigerians in positions of authority as well as wealthy individuals to assist the less-privileged so that there can be a better society.

    On how the beneficiaries were selected, the lawmaker said he told his constituents that anyone that needs anything should go to his constituency office and write his or her name, ward and telephone number along with what he or she needs on a register.

    He revealed that he goes through the register regularly and calls the recipients to ask them about what they want. He advised the beneficiaries not to sell the items as he would not entertain any request for money from them in the nearest future.

    “If you say you need N10, 000, but you have N5, 000, I would balance it up rather than for someone to come to me for everything he or she needs. I spent over N27m on the whole empowerment programme,” he said.

    Ayinla also advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the items to improve their standard of living, disclosing that, “a monitoring team has been inaugurated by my constituency to monitor the effective use of these implements by the beneficiaries”.

  • Enhancing small-scale food processing

    Enhancing small-scale food processing

    There has been an interest in the future of agro food processing  and its role in generating employment. Experts say Nigeria’s agro-processing industry, if properly harnessed, could create  jobs and grow the agro-allied sector’s contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But the challenges  facing  small agro processors are numerous, but not insurmountable.  DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Why does Nigeria  exports raw cashew nuts and imports its processed form? Why do Nigerians import chocolate and other products made from cocoa when its beans are produced in the forests of Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Cross River and other states?

    The reasons for these are not far-fetched. For one, there is no competitive agro-processing sector that has a comparative advantage in agriculture. The sector again had suffered a long period neglect by successive governments.

    The cashew nuts industry is one area where the country is losing  millions  of dollars  every year by exporting unprocessed cashew nuts. According to experts, one processed tonne of cashew nuts could fetch five-fold income after processing.

    Nigeria exports more than 70  per cent  of its cashew production in raw form. After the commodity has been shelled in India, the nuts are re-exported to the United States (US) and Europe where they are sold at good prices.

    The National  Cashew  Association of Nigeria(NCAN) President, Mr  Tola Faseru said exporting  unprocessed cashew  is  the  reason for farmers’ poverty.

    Faseru, who spoke with The Nation, said the food processing sub-sector  is  still dominated by small-scale food processors. “They cannot afford  machines capable of carrying out large processing of the commodity. This explains  the  reason  for the  underdevelopment of  the  sector,” he said.

    With this gloomy picture, he said, the overall potential of processing is huge as it could increase the value of the crops of poor farmers thus yielding higher returns.

    Several trends, he added,  indicated that the significance of  agro-processors in the food value chains is going to increase.

    He, however, lamented that the conditions for good integration are not favourable.

    He said in the last two years, there have been reports of  few investments in processing taking place in fresh fruit and vegetable products which are showing little success.

    The   President, Association of Micro-Entrepreneurs Nigeria (AMEN), Prince Saviour  Iche is concerned about this development. According to him, the  agric  sector faces many problems emanating from various negative aspects of the economy. Some of them are the uncertainties that exist in access to finance, advice, information and reliable markets.

    He  urged the government  to take urgent measures to  upgrade small-scale processing, adding  that  the current level of  agro processing  was not  helping agriculture sector’s growth.

    To  achieve this, encouraging  investment in the agriculture and food processing sector, he said, will go a long way in establishing an efficient supply chain that links farmers and small manufacturers directly with retailers, and maximise value for all stakeholders.

    He called for the establishment of infrastructure, arguing that it will minimise wastage especially, in fresh perishable foods and vegetables, increase farmers’expectations, encourage best practices in crop management and improve food safety and hygiene.

    He reiterated that the agro-processing industry has the potential to meet the local requirements and that medium-scale enterprises have potential to create employment opportunities.

    The  cassava  industry is an example.  Farmers  are  increasing  cultivation of neglected cassava after chipping machines introduced by  the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi(FIIRO)  has  opened up market opportunities. The machines  allow for quicker processing of raw cassava, which is chipped, dried and ready for sale within days.

    Cassava, according to experts, perishes within 72 hours after  harvest, making it unfit for for human and livestock consumption. Farmers, who cultivate the crop are being left with losses as poor market has limited its sale. The  surplus, which is supposed to translate to joy to farmers, becomes their loss. This has forced them to limit production, leaving the crop to its  nondescript backyard subsistence crop, even as farmers from other developing countries such as  India continue to make millions from value added to the crop.

    However, FIIRO’s new processing machine is  changing the face of cassava production.

    Its  Director-General, Dr Gloria Elemo told a forum in Lagos that  the  institute is working  on  cassava processing  machine.  Through selective breeding, scientists from major research institutes have managed to increase cassava  yields six-fold and as a result expanded the average area farmers can plant with cassava almost 10-fold. While this has increased food security, there is  a real threat of cassava  getting  spoilt before  harvest. This eventually undermines the  local market prices and farmers’  income.

    To prevent this, Mrs Elemo   said  FIIRO is helping local processors  to get processing machines that could   produce chipped cassava and flour.

    Aside, she said,  the Institute has done extensive  research   on cassava apart from its high quality flour. These include de-odorised fufu; glucose syrup production; using cassava wastes in animal feeds; production of adhesives; ethanol; custard; biogas and enzymes  among  others.

    Another area  where FIIRO is  producing machines  for  is fruit juice processing. High demand for processed fruit juices is seeing new entrants in a market model that is also benefiting small hold farmers, who are earning from the demand for raw materials from these companies.

    She said fruits and vegetable processing and preservation offer a new viable opportunity, adding that though more effort needs to be put into promotion and marketing.

    The institute, Mrs  Elemo said,    is  empowering  small and medium agro-processing entrepreneurs to manufacture processed produce, adding that  increasing  the level of  agro-processing would have a significant impact on the economy. This is due to the scale of output generation, employment creation and impact on rural economy.

    While FIIRO has made  efforts to  develop machines for medium-scale grain milling, bread-making enterprises, livestock feeds manufacturing and vegetable oil processing to facilitate  entry of more  entrepreneurs increase, Dr Elemo said  the institute  aims to increase the competitiveness and growth of agro-processing enterprises by helping  them  translating research  results into improved products.

    She said it is the vision  of the institute to commercialise its developed technologies. This, according to her, is being done through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as evidenced by the number of Memoranda-of-Understanding (MoUs) the Institute has signed in the last few months.

    Notable among the private sector organisations that have signed the MoU are Honeywell Group Limited, Bio-organics Nutrients Systems Limited and Ladmok Nigeria Limited.

    According to her, some small-medium scale enterprises have also signed MoUs with the institute in  cassava processing and fortification of food products developed from the institute’s research  activities.

    The  institute, Mrs Elemo said, held  a forum  with equipment prototype fabricators  to  enable them produce equipment of higher quality and durability.

    She stressed the need for government at both federal and state levels to re-orientate the youths to embrace technical and vocational skills development by reviving the technical colleges and trade centres.

    According to her, the institute’s engineers will facilitate the assessment of the equipment available in technical colleges and polytechnics especially, in Lagos State and there after train personnel to operate the machines to ensure optimal use.

    To  assist  small  scale  entrepreneurs,  FIIRO’s   management  met  with  the  Bank of Industry (BoI) on ways to provide innovative interventions geared towards boosting the economy’s transformation from farming to developing small-scale enterprises, food processing and industrialised agro-industries.

    BoI’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, said the collaboration became  necessary   in order to boost the 6.8 per cent contribution of the real sector to the nation’s GDP, through encouraging the development of localised solutions to the industrialisation gaps identified.

    He said the mandates of both organisations are the same, adding that  stakeholders especially, SMEs in the area of agro-processing, would benefit   if both organisations aligned their strategies to work together.

    He, therefore, promised FIIRO of BoI’s support, especially in the area of promoting the low-cost technologies developed by the Institute, which could help SMEs compete favourably through exhibitions and other avenues.

     

  • ‘Artisanal, small scale miners produce 80% of solid minerals’

    The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development says not less than 80 per cent of the solid minerals in the country are produced by the artisanal and small scale miners.

    Mr Obiora Azubike, the Director, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining Department, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    “It will interest you to know that over 80 per cent of minerals (solid minerals) that are in this country are produced by this class of miners.

    “In fact, this group of miners are actually into all the minerals apart from bitumen.

    “We encourage the miners to participate in the extension service training programme that we conduct annually; part of the programme focuses on processing the minerals.

    “By the time you process your minerals properly, your products will add value and by the time you process further, the value is further added.

    “Like the gemstones producers, rather than exporting or selling their products in raw form, we encourage the miners to cut the gemstones.

    “When you cut the gemstones, you get more value for it even when they are for export,’’ he said.

    Azubike said that the ministry was registering the miners to determine their strength and operational capacity.

    “The main thrust is to determine how many of these mining cooperatives are active, and preliminary results already indicate that a substantial number of registered cooperatives are still active,’’ he said.

    Owning 1 per cent of a successful company is better than 100 per cent of a floundering one

     

  • Niger to build N1.49b small-scale factories

    The Niger State Government will build 90 units of small scales factories at the state’s industrial park in Minna, the state capital.

    The Commissioner for Investment, Commerce and Cooperative, Mallam Yahaya Dansala, said the factories would cost N1.49billion and boost the economy.

    The projects, he said, would be executed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with an America-based company, Nochez International Limited.

    The commissioner said the projects would be completed in nine months.

    Dansalau spoke in Minna at the weekend when he signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the developer.

    According to him, each factory will be sold for N15million with 20 per cent subsidy.

    He explained that under a special arrangement, the government would provide about 18 hectares of land while the developer would provide the funds.

    Dansalau said the government has guaranteed the sale of 50 units of the factories while the developer would look for buyers for the remaining 40 units.

    The Managing Director of the Nochez International Limited, Mr. Charles Onuigbo, assured that the company would not renege on the agreement.

    He said the factories would be delivered on or before the scheduled time.