By PROVIDENCE OBUH

LAGOS—The Federal Government has signed a $1 billion (about N155 billion) memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Swiss firm, Glencore International, on investment in mining, energy and infrastructure.

Glencore, based in Baar, Switzerland, is one of the world’s integrated producers and marketers of commodities, with worldwide activities in the production, sourcing, processing, refining, transporting, storage, financing and supply of metals and minerals, energy products and agricultural products, with 50 offices in over 40 countries.

Speaking at the ongoing industrial revolution workshop with theme, “Enhancing the Productivity of Nigeria’s Industries”, organised by the Ministry of Trade and Investment, yesterday, in Lagos, Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said the government was taking steps to revolutionalise the nation’s manufacturing sector as a major driver of economic growth through job creation and increased contribution to Gross Domestic Product.

He said as part of the industrial revolution, the Ministry of Trade and Investment is working with the organised private sector and the Ministry of Power to reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria and ultimately increase the productivity of the manufacturing sector.

Aganga noted that the nation’s Industrial Revolution Plan would be based on areas where the country had comparative and competitive advantage, adding that the government had embarked on far-reaching reforms aimed at improving the business climate and making Nigeria the preferred investment hub in Africa and globally.

He said, “Africa’s share of the global trade is only three per cent. This is because Africa has been exporting raw materials rather that exporting finished products. For us as a country, manufacturing is very important because it solves three critical problems: it solves the problem of GDP growth, unemployment and balance of payment.  Also, manufacturing is critical for wealth creation.

“If we are going to move from a poor nation to a rich country, industrialisation holds the key because it has the potential for unlocking the wealth of our country. This is why we are kicking off an Industrial Revolution Plan for our country.”

“Part of the objectives of this workshop is to come up with big, practical and implementable steps on how to remove the barriers to industrialisation because we must industrialise our country. If we are going to diversify our economy, then the industrial sector must play the leading role. If we are going to move from a poor nation to a big nation, we must have a strong and vibrant industrial sector,” he added.

He said that the Ministry had already mandated the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to step up the war against fake and sub-standard products in order to protect local industries and enhance their capacity utlilisation.

“We are working towards reducing fake and sub-standard goods from about 80 per cent to 30 per cent working with SON. And because we have so many fake and substandard goods, the cost of producing goods in the country is more expensive than those cheap sub-standard products that are brought into this country. We are going to take drastic actions with respect to tackling this problem,” he said

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, said that the Federal Government was committed to the successful implementation of its Power Sector Reforms Programme, adding his ministry would partner the Ministry of Trade and Investment on the provision of dedicated, uninterrupted power supply to key industrial areas across the country to fast-track the country’s Industrial Revolution Plan.

Nnaji  said, “The Federal  Government  is committed towards  the  implementation of the Power Sector Reforms Programme, which is aimed at providing sustainable uninterrupted  power supply to meet  domestic and  industrial demand. Part of the ongoing reforms is the implementation of a cost-reflective tariff structure that will open up the sector to attract more local and Foreign Direct Investment.

“As part of this strategy, we are going to partner the Ministry of Trade and Investment on delivering more power to the country’s industrial areas such as Lagos Kano, Kaduna, Onitsha, Aba, Shagamu and other places. Already, we have mapped out the industrial areas and more power will be delivered to these industrial centres.”

He added, “For example, we have concluded plans to move power about 1,000MW from the two power plants at Olurunsogo to Shagamu. This is because we have identified power as very critical to Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan.

Part of the problem militating against investment in the power sector is that we operate a non-cost reflective tariff structure. Currently, power producers owe gas producers about N24bn due to our non-cost reflective tariff.

“While we intend to address this problem, we also have plans to provide adequate incentives to rural dwellers through the new tariff regime. What we want to achieve in this country is to have a power sector that is robust to deliver sustainable uninterrupted power supply to drive the Industrial Revolution that is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Trade and Investment.”