By Sunday Etuka, Abuja
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite says the Federal Government has so far secured investment commitments of $30 Billion across multiple sectors of the nation’s economy, in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Dr. Uzoka-Anite disclosed this on Tuesday at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Update to mark the first year of the Tinubu’s Administration.
She disclosed that the ministry is also taking decisive and structured steps to attract capital investments which will transform the nation’s homegrown enterprises and industries into global players.
“We have concluded stakeholder engagements with our domestic private equity and asset management firms towards the launch of an Investment Mobilization Initiative aimed at increasing local and foreign investment as a catalyst for economic growth”, she added.
While acknowledging that the nation’s diaspora remittances are between $20-25 Billion annually, the Minister noted that these remittances have not been channeled intentionally to private equity, therefore, the ministry is creating a platform to target, mobilize and utilize some of these funds in the productive economy.
“We have also received strong support from development finance partners and have no doubt that with the success of this initiative, Nigeria will witness a boom in the formation of businesses, a strong financial and capital market and the creation of a strong economic and industrial base to catalyze a $1trillion dollar GDP economy”, the Minister said.
She affirmed that the Ministry’s mandate was focused around 6 pillars of growth, which are; support and facilitation to improve ease of doing business, development of policies and reforms, increased access to financing, increased access to Global markets, Driving Investments, and increasing Job Creation which all play a significant role in the delivery of Mr. President’s 8-Point Agenda.
She informed that under the auspices of the Ministry, the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex has recorded significantly increased revenue to the Federal Government, totaling over Four Hundred and Thirty Million Naira (N430,000,000) in the first quarter of 2024, which is significantly more compared to the N17,883,406 accrued in the same period in the previous year.
“We are now set to again host the popular Lagos International Trade Fair which was last hosted 14 years ago in 2010, re-establishing our dear country as the market hub of West Africa.
“This will create increased market linkages and access for our manufacturers, suppliers, farmers, and traders across Nigeria, significantly boosting the economic activities of the country in an unprecedented way through tourism, trade, manufacturing and increased job creation”, Uzoka-Anite added.
He revealed that in a bid to ensure food security, the Ministry is implementing several reforms to the Nigeria Commodities Exchange (NCX) to enhance its efficiency as a major commodity trade driver.
These reforms in the Nigeria Commodities Exchange, according to her, would create a future where the hard work of farmers and miners translates into equitable opportunities in national and international markets, contribute to minimizing food inflation, enhance solid mineral and agricultural production, boost private sector investment in the agricultural and mining value chain, boost exports and foster economic empowerment among small holder farmers and miners.
Dr. Uzoka-Anite stated that in order to enhance trade, reduce export rejects and exporting time, the Ministry is creating One stop Export Processing Centers across the 6 geopolitical zones, that would accommodate all government agencies and private institutions that warehouse, test, certify, package and document goods for export, and finally ship these commodities through the designated export terminals.
“Exporters will also be more strictly regulated to ensure that our dear country benefits from the export of her natural resources. All exports must be against inward letters of credit before goods can be shipped out of Nigeria.
“This will ensure that export proceeds are warehoused within Nigerian Banks and made available to the FX markets, further strengthening our currency and our economy”, she said.
The Minister said, in recognition of the important role played by the manufacturing sector in catalyzing economic growth, His Excellency, Mr. President graciously approved a N200 Billion Naira (Two Hundred Billion Naira) Presidential Palliative Programme to support businesses by providing grants to nano businesses and loans to MSMEs and Manufacturers at single- digit interest rates.
She said, towards the facilitation of this, the Ministry in partnership with the Bank of Industry (B.O.I.) has successfully commenced phased disbursement of the grants in line with the Palliative Programme.
On the launched Presidential CNG Initiative, she said, the Ministry would soon flag-off the conversion and manufacturing of CNG trucks and trailers to carry goods for trade, adding that logistics and cost of transportation contributes significantly to cost of goods sold and consequently to inflation.
She explained that “CNG is 4 times cheaper than diesel for transportation. This initiative will drop the cost of carrying goods and see our cost of production drop significantly.
“Let me emphasize here again that just powering industries from distributed power or captive power alone will reduce cost of production by 60%, then reducing cost of transportation by converting trucks and trailers to CNG instead of diesel will drop that cost again by 60%, the combined effect of this alone will shift our industries from loss making ventures into huge profit ventures, thereby having a multiplier effect”, she said.
