By Binta Shama
The Minister, Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (FMIST), Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, has called on stakeholders to collectively support, the National Consultative Committee on Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development in Nigeria.
According to the Minister, that the mere possession of abundant raw materials in the country does not guarantee economic prosperity, but rather developing them into high-quality products which is imperative for national growth and global competitiveness.
Nnaji, stated this at the Conference of the National Consultative Committee on Global Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development in Nigeria in Abuja, on Tuesday.
The initiative he said, is critical as it creates a platform for continuous deliberating and recommending feasible initiatives, for strengthening Nigeria’s economic growth prospects and global competitiveness in raw materials and product development.
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The National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development in Nigeria, with its Implementation Plan, was developed by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council under the supervision of my Ministry.
This National Strategy received approval from the Federal Executive Council FEC in 2017 and aims to champion our country’s global competitiveness diversification through investments in innovation and technology, R&D, infrastructure, data development and management, industrialization, competitiveness advocacy, legal and policy frameworks, institutional/organizational development, and human capital development”. He said.
The Minister added that the target of the strategy is to facilitate significant reductions in the imports of raw materials and products that are or can easily be readily available in Nigeria but massively imported into the country.
The target benefits also include creating 4.4 million jobs; boosting local content in manufacturing to 50% and 80% in the short and long terms, respectively; increasing global acceptance of Made-in-Nigeria raw materials, products, and services; boosting foreign exchange earnings and reserve; steady development of demand-driven scientific industrial culture; industry-research strategic alliances with the resultant production of high- quality and competitive raw materials and products, graduation of market- ready students from knowledge centres, and overall diversification of the economy.
Earlier, the Director-General/CEO of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, the initiative was in response to the patriotic zeal and the consequent pressure from the Minister, charging them to immediately initiate and commence the implementation of the National Strategy following the launch of the Consultative Committee in 2017.
As you all know, the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development in Nigeria” was approved for implementation by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, 17th May 2017. The post-approval step by the government was also the constitution of the National Consultative Committee on Competitiveness (NCCC) and its inauguration by the then Hon. Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation to ensure the successful implementation of the strategy.
This home-grown strategy anchored on applying innovation, science, and technology to raw materials and product development is a unique change agent in our national development initiatives. Its successful implementation will unquestionably reduce the level of raw materials and products imports into the country.
