President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday said his government projects about N5trillion revenue annually from the manufacturing sector.
He made this known at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, at the launch of Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), aimed at fast tracking the growth of the nation’s manufacturing sector.
According to him, with the launch, the stage is now set for the total transformation of the industrial, micro, small and medium enterprises, describing the NIPR as a comprehensive road map towards rapid industrial growth that will ultimately boost job creation and conserve foreign reserves.
The President spoke further, “The NIRP is the flagship industrialization programme ever embarked upon by this country. It will fast-track industrialization, accelerate inclusive economic growth, job creation, transform Nigeria’s business environment and stop the drain on our foreign reserves caused by importing what we can produce in locally.
“The Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan is the most ambitious and comprehensive industrialization programme because it is based on the areas where Nigeria has competitive and comparative advantage such as agriculture and agro-products, metals and solid minerals, oil and gas, construction and light manufacturing services. It has identified those sectors where Nigeria can be number one in Africa and top 10 globally.”
“The NIRP will also address the physical constraints that have consistently inhibited the growth of manufacturing by building industrial infrastructure, prioritise power for industrial use, reduce borrowing cost and mobilise funds for the real sector. It will help to build our industrial skills, improve our investment climate, raise our product standards, link innovation to industry and ensure local patronage of made in Nigeria goods.
“The goal of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan is to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP from the present four per cent to more 10 per cent over the next five years. This will boost the annual revenue earnings of the Nigerian manufacturers by up to N5trillion per annum.”
On the second programme, the NEDEP, he said it is “designed to develop and grow the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises because all over the world, the MSMEs are primary drivers of employment. With the successful implementation of the National Enterprise Development Programme, Nigeria will attain her dream of inclusive economic growth.
“A survey conducted by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics in 2010 showed that we have about 17 million MSMEs, employing over 32 million people. If each of these 17 million MSMEs employ additional one person, we will create additional 17 million jobs thereby reducing employment in our country.”
“The NIRP and NEDEP will give additional impetus to our Transformation Agenda by ensuring value addition, enterprise development and industrialisation.
“On our own part, the Federal Government will continue to support local manufacturers by buying vehicles that are made in Nigeria. And as long those vehicles are produced in this country, the Federal Government will buy them. So we also encourage the state governments to support the patronage of made in Nigeria products in their states.”
Welcoming the guests earlier, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said the NIPR and NEDEP would provide the required linkages with other development plans of government, assuring the programmes would be a success.
His words, “The NIRP and NEDEP are both holistic and integrated. This means that they are joined at the waist with other MDAs. The NIRP and NEDEP adopt inclusive structures which bring in other government agencies and the private sector to ensure adequate policy synergy”.
Present at the launch were Vice President Namadi Sambo, Ministers, captains of industry and top government functionaries.
