NACETEM: Nigeria’s Initial Industrialisation Plan Not Export-oriented

Emma Okonji

The Director General/CEO, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Dr. Olushola Odusanya, has given reasons why Nigeria is heavily dependent on the importation of certain goods as a consuming nation.

Odusanya, revealed that the initial industrialisation plan that Nigeria had in the past was not export-oriented, but was rather designed around self-sufficiency.

Odusanya, who revealed this yesterday during his opening remarks at the Stakeholders’ Research Output Conference on Leather Sector Assessment and Local Content Policy Studies, organised by NACETEM in Lagos, said it was a major error on the part of the Nigerian government not to focus the nation’s industrialisation plan towards export orientation.

“If the initial industrialastion plan was export-oriented, Nigeria could have had a sustainability plan that would have allowed industries to survive with ease.

“There is therefore an urgent need for an aggressive reorganisation of the entire industrialisation system of Nigeria, and NACETEM is already involved in data collection and analysis that will be submitted to the appropriate government authorities that will help in policy formulation to reposition Nigeria for export,” Odusanya said. 

The Zonal Director, National Centre for Technology Management, South West Office, Lagos, Mrs. MarryAnn Ngozi Onyejekwe, called for a major shift from a consumption to a producing nation to increase import substitution and high GDP, and entrench economic diversification that will impact foreign exchange.

According to her, local content in terms of manpower, raw materials, technologies, and machinery for Made-in-Nigeria Goods and Services (MNGS), offers the required trajectory to becoming an industrialised nation.

“Nigeria remains the largest producer of leather in Africa, with our leather ranking among the highest quality leather found globally, and generates $ 600 to $800 million annually, hence, the subsector can be a key driver of Nigeria’s economic growth and development,” Onyejekwe said.

She further explained that NACETEM, in line with her mandates, conducts policy research to access the awareness and practices of local content policy in the public and private sectors as well as multinational corporations and make further policy recommendations as may be appropriate.

Presenting the detailed research reports on Leather Sector Assessment and Local Content Policy Studies, the leaders of the research teams, Dr. Victor Sobanke, Dr. Mirabel Omoruyi, and Dr. Olutunde Babalola, lamented the situation, where Nigeria would export raw leather produce to Spain and Italy, and in turn import finished leather products like Shoes, bags and belts from the same countries at exorbitant rates.   

According to the research findings on the leather sector, as presented by the team, “All the factors, which include internal, external and governmental support, showed a significant influence on the leather firm’s technology capability in the study, while only production and linkage capabilities contribute positively and negatively respectively to the performance of leather firms in the study.”

For the impact of local content practices on Nigeria’s economy, the research team suggested that patronage of locally made goods and widespread awareness should be linked together by a deliberate, coherent and proactive approach, aimed at leveraging them to stimulate economic development.