The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah has reiterated the need for manufacturers in Nigeria to increase the local content in their production chain.
Enelamah said this in a statement issued by his Strategy and Communications Adviser, Mr Bisi Daniels in Abuja on Thursday.
The statement said that Enelamah spoke when he received a delegation from Guinness Nigeria Plc., led by its Managing Director, Mr Baker Magunda.
Enelamah commended Guinness Nigeria on its backward integration and local sourcing of materials.
This, he said would reduce imports and provide more employment opportunities for Nigerians.
He said that one of the most important things to the government was job creation, adding that industrial growth should be encouraged through the Ease of Doing Business and active partnerships.
“Government has an important role to play and that is creating an enabling business environment for industries to thrive,’’ he said.
According to him, the Federal Government is keen on sectoral policies that will further develop the grain and cassava sectors, and will like such policies to be shared.
He also expressed the readiness of the ministry to partner with Guinness in sectoral development, job creation, as well as trucking under government’s automotive policy.
Magunda said the company had been operating in Nigeria for the past 68 years, with two plants in Lagos and Benin presently.
According, the company has been able to reduce its imports from 70 per cent to 30 per cent through local sourcing of materials.
“The industry is a low-margin industry where some materials are cheaper to import, but efforts are presently ongoing to source more materials locally,” he said.
Magunda said that the company had also began a cassava farm in Edo and was trying to involve many more farmers in cassava production.
He also said that the company had commenced discussion with manufacturers on the production of trucks for the transportation of inputs and products. (NAN)
