Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for the prioritisation of local content and promotion of made-in-Nigeria products, citing that Executive Order 003 which makes the patronage of locally manufactured products mandatory is still in effect.
Shettima also says the Federal Government has partnered with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria to devise an actionable roadmap and policy framework that would refurbish the nation's manufacturing sector.
He affirmed that the roadmap and policy framework would be speedily implemented to effect the needed changes that will revamp the sector.
The VP stressed the need to support local firms, noting that Nigeria cannot achieve significant progress in its drive for industrialisation unless it deliberately promotes the production of capital goods, expands its production base, prioritises local content, and promotes made-in-Nigeria products.
He assured that Executive Order No 003, which mandates the patronage of locally manufactured products, is still in effect and government agencies are required to fully comply.
Shettima observed that Nigeria has no better option than to support its indigenous firms to produce locally and increase their capabilities, especially as Africa has long languished at the bottom of the global value chain, with its share of global manufacturing at less than two percent.
He noted that a competitive manufacturing sector would reduce the inequities in the nation's economy as well as overdependence on imports.
The VP identified five pillars of the National Manufacturing Policy Summit as a clear roadmap for stimulating the manufacturing sector, which include upscaling productivity and competitiveness, energy security and infrastructure development, improving the macroeconomic environment and ease of doing business, promoting Made-in-Nigeria products and local content development, and leveraging regional and continental trade for export development.
