The minister for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo said, the new commissioned factory by Coleman Technical Industries Limited (CTIL) will position the company to significantly meet the nation’s demand for cables and wire and to actively participate in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Adebayo, who was represented by the director, Industrial Development at the federal ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Mr Adewale Bakare, stated this, at the commissioning of Coleman Technical Industries fibre-optic cable factory in Ogun State.
The multi-billion factory is the first optic-fibre cable factory in West-Africa sub-region and fifth plant in African-continent and the technical know-how are being done in collaboration with the largest fiber-optic producer in the world, Corning Inc.
Adebayo said, this brand-new facility is for the production of signal transmitting cables for telecommunication for both commercial and industrial uses, saying, this is indeed a commendable achievement for the management of Coleman technical Industries.
Adebayo noted that, “this has finally positioned the company to significantly meet the nation’s demand for cables and wire and more importantly, provide the opportunity for the company to actively participate in the African continental free trade area.”
He added that the expansion of your factory from electricity wires and cable to the production of fiber optic cables, commonly used by led by telecommunication companies and other industries including Defense and Medical Health is a confirmation of the company’s confidence in the industrialisation drive of the Nigerian federal government. He added that this laudable achievement of the company has placed Nigeria among African countries with capacity to produce fibre-optic cables on the continent, assuring of the federal government continuous support and partner with the private sector with genuine interest in developing and reinforcing the economy through job creation, wealth creation as well as transfer of technology.
The MD/CEO of Coleman Technical Industries, George Onafowokan disclosed that the drive was to have a localised fibre optic manufacturer in Nigeria and particularly to provide jobs for thousands of people.
The development, according to him, was a response to federal government’s call for rapid development of digitalization penetration in Nigeria economy and the drive for local content development in country capacity building, driven by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring (NCDMB).
Also, the director, Fibre Business, Corning Inc USA, Mr Steven Candler said, there is a huge opportunity for content in Nigeria and neighboring countries arising from increasing demand for bandwidth hungry services, saying that the opening of this factory could not have come at a better time.
Ogun state governor, Dr. Dapo Abiodun stated that the state will continue to provide basic infrastructure and enabling policies that allow for such enterprises to thrive, have consequently put in place friendly measures.
