Sparkwest Steel Industries Limited has positioned itself on growth path having grown out of an import business into a world-class manufacturer producing locally fabricated and galvanised steel structures, electrical transmission towers, power stations/substations and telecoms towers and accessories for the Nigerian market.
The company says that it is, at the moment, among leading suppliers to the telecoms, oil and gas and power industries, disclosing that it has done lots of exports to countries like Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, among others.
Niyi Oyedele, the company’s managing director who gave these hints during a tour of the company’s factory in Otta, Ogun State by Olusegun Aganga, the minister of trade and investment, however, said that import duties on raw materials had continued to plague the growth of industrial activity.
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Oyedele commended the minister for helping the growth of industrial activities by reversing import duty to 5 percent, saying “the Ogun State government has given tremendous support to our factory and other industries within the state; indeed, Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s support and cooperation constitute one of the reasons for our success.”
The managing director also pointed out that power was still a major challenge to industrial development, disclosing that they were expanding their factory by building a rolling mill and would be increasing their staff strength to 2,500 from 600 when the mill was completed.
Aganga emphasised the need for Nigeria to diversify its economy more so as oil revenue has dropped considerable, noting that it was industries like Spartwest that would help to diversify the economy.
The minister said industrial companies such as Sparkwest were vital to achieving economic diversification, explaining that the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) was launched to focus on areas where the country had competitive advantage.
“We have to also commend the Ogun State government because without them, none of the new 57 industries would have come up in the state. There is also the need for state and the federal government to partner to achieve industrial revolution in the country,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “People are saying industries are dying, but they are not; they are rather growing every day. In the last four years, about 57 new industries have come out of Ogun State. The president has visited Ogun State more than seven times to commission new factories. The same thing is happening in Abia State where Nigerian Breweries over the last five years has spent $1 billion building new plants in the country. The brewery is the biggest and the best in Africa. The governor of the state was telling us that most of the industries that left Aba five years ago, are coming back to Aba.”
The minister said the NIRP was working, but needed consistency and continuity for another five to seven years to achieve its mandate, arguing that if Nigeria continued with the initiative, it would diversify the economy, create millions of jobs and earn more foreign exchange from export of steel products from industries such as this.
“The days of relying only on crude oil are over. This is an opportunity for us to fully diversify our economy. I am very delighted that this government under President Goodluck Jonathan already has a plan to harness this opportunity to diversify the economy,” he said.
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