Nigeria’s quest for the manufacturing of indigenous products received massive boost on Monday, August 11, when the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole paid a working visit to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to inspect facilities at the Agency.
Exceedingly impressed by the volume of work and the tangible materials produced at the facilities, Dr. Oduwole threw her weight behind the Agency’s transformational efforts to industrialize Nigeria through massive production of made–in-Nigeria products.
Some of the NASENI’s facilities the Minister toured included the NASENI Innovation Hub, NASENI technology site at the Abuja Technology Village, the NASENI TROMENT vaccine facility and another facility at Abuja Technology Park, Idu Industrial Area respectively.
Dr. Oduwole, who expressed delight at the massive investment that NASENI has made in the production of a variety of Nigerian products, commended the Agency led by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC/CEO) Khalil Suleiman Halilu, for his ceaseless efforts in this policy drive in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu’s to diversify the Nigerian economy through investments in local production.
The visit was part of a broader effort by the ministry to assess local industrial capacity and see high-impact projects that are accelerating the Federal Government’s Nigeria First Policy, an agenda focused on boosting domestic production, encouraging local consumption, and creating jobs through industrialization.
At the heart of these impressive efforts are the resilience, the foresight and the determination of Mr. Halilu in promoting Made-in-Nigeria products and ensuring that they reach global markets especially taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Dr. Oduwole, who was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi as well as directors of the Ministry and Directors of NASENI, stressed that NASENI’s strides will change the fortunes of the country for the better.
She also told a news conference after the tour at NASENI’s Headquarters in Abuja that the Agency has gone beyond showing intents but has deepened actual productivity at a level that is bringing tangible results.
She said “I have come and I have seen many things. What I am seeing today is not in terms of intents, not in terms of MoUs, not in terms of agreement or prospective investors but I have seen actual 100 per cent made-in-Nigeria products.
“I have seen happy investors. I have seen investors who were pushed to work quickly. I have seen investors who are setting the pace in the country, in the region and on the global patterns, loading the way, “she added.
NASENI used the opportunity to show the Minister its product showroom at Abuja Technology Park, NASENI TROMENT factory that will be producing world-class drugs including HIV vaccines, etc, and NASENI Innovation Hub and several products delivered by the Agency.
The factory will not only produce test kits but serve as a research hub for developing next-generation medical technologies, by training Nigerian scientists, lab technicians, and engineers. This will mitigate the delays caused in diagnosis and treatment and ensuring that Nigerians have quick, easy, and affordable access to disease detection tools.
The NASENI-Troment factory project is expected to boost the country’s GDP by exporting test kits across Africa and international markets. With an initial production capacity of over 100,000 test kits per day, the factory is projected to create over 200 direct jobs, with thousands more benefiting indirectly in its first phase.
And to buttress the practical display of NASENI’s products, the Minister took a ride alongside the EVC/CEO Halilu, in NASENI’s anti-ballistic missile amoured vehicle, an innovation that became a reality through the massive commitment of the NASENI boss and this tireless team.
The sustainability of NASENI local production is the basis upon which its potential for industrial growth and development of the country rests and it has become incumbent on all the stakeholders to support the Agency to improve its access to finance and access to markets.
NASENI and major stakeholders can embark on knowledge sharing and also motivate the younger generation as well as to keep the tempo of the Agency’s commercialization drive, which supports domestic content development.
The NASENI boss in his remarks said the visit was a profound opportunity for the Minister and her entourage to see the immense effort of the Agency even as he called for stronger collaboration with the Ministry to further boost productivity.
He appealed to the media to ramp up developmental journalism that will showcase Nigerian products to the global community in order to strengthen the resolve of the Agency to do more.
He also disclosed that NASENI currently has over 18 factories across the country that have produced over 40 products that are market–ready, capable of competing favourably in the global market, with more innovations underway.
According to the NASENI boss, “we are producing the right quality of products for the right price. People now export Nigerian made products. It is for this reason we have NASENI Innovation Hub to help young people transform their ideas into tangible commerciable products.”
NASENI has created a new paradigm focused on the utilization of local materials to make local products for domestic and global consumption. It was apt that the Minister has assured more enabling environment with the ease of doing business initiative as well as expand access to capital and access to markets so that the Agency can drive the Renewed Hope Agenda in accelerating exports.
It is hoped that the Federal Government’s monetary policy, which the CBN is championing, will provide credit that will spur investments while international bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) can be urged to collaborate.
There is also the need for bilateral trade agreements to ensure that investors are protected in addition to supporting the research and development at NASENI not just with policies but legislations and regulations and enable the businesses to thrive and attract foreign investment and improving local investment, skill acquisition and competitiveness and leveraging exports across the country and the world.
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