Diversification hangs on Buhari’s blueprint on manufacturing, agric, solid minerals

Nigeria’s realisation of the much touted economic diversification would depend on President Muhammadu Buhari unveiling a clear-cut blueprint on manufacturing, agriculture and solid minerals.

Despite constituting his cabinet six months after assuming office, it is still not clear whether Buhari will allow the new minister of industry, trade and investment to carry on with the National Industrial Revolution Programme (NIRP) or tinker with it.

Besides, investors are not yet sure whether or not there will be a new plan that will guide investments in manufacturing, especially those sub-sectors that are still under-exploited.

The NIRP, which was prepared by Nigeria and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), focuses on light manufacturing, steel, metals, agriculture value chain and solid minerals, among others.

Frank Udemba Jacobs, president, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), recently said that manufacturers want retention of the NIRP as it is a comprehensive document that clearly shows the direction of the industrial sector.

Tunde Oyelola, chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group, told BusinessDay that rather than come up with a completely new programme, the Buhari administration may modify areas it is not comfortable with.   

“It is often counter-productive to make hasty reversals. NIRP is a good plan that needs to be religiously implemented,” said Oyelola.

Although Audu Ogbeh, the new agric minister, has said that he would carry on with the policies of Akinwumi Adesina, the immediate past minister and now head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), it is still not clear as to the extent to which he will implement the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

Investors in the agric sector need a clear direction, given the yet unclear policy on rice. The immediate past administration, for example, gave some local rice producers quotas to import the gap between the domestic demand and the local production capacity. This was to last till 2017 to enable rice producers ramp up capacity till then.

But Buhari has not hidden his disdain for the importation of rice. While many investors see this as positive, some analysts say that there should be an inventory to determine whether local rice producers could satisfy domestic demand before any ban would be placed. They also urge the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) not to allow unbridled importation just for the sake of generating revenue.

Paul Gbededo, CEO/group MD, Flour Mills of Nigeria plc, said what “Nigeria has so far lacked is sustainable and inclusive policies, lamenting that absence of policy coordination among the ministries of agriculture, industry and finance affected the immediate past administration negatively, and should be managed positively this time.”

Nigeria’s annual food import bill is estimated at N630 billion. A clear agenda on the agriculture sector could save Nigeria about N431 billion from wheat imports and open up new sub-sectors.

According to Richard Hargrave, managing director, Dizengoff West Africa Nigeria Limited, Africa’s largest economy has only one tractor for every 4,100 farmers, an issue that makes agric mechanisation a pipe dream.

According to Remi Bello, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCC), the essence of a clear policy direction is to enable investors make a decisive plan and determine where to put their money.

Investors who spoke to BusinessDay generally believe that except there is a blueprint, they will continue to keep their money.

In the solid minerals sector, investors are asking for a blueprint on how to do beneficiation (processing). This is important as it will free solid minerals resources to manufacturers that need them for production. It will also stop the incessant export of coal, tin and other minerals, which brings in little foreign exchange into the economy.

Shehu Sani, president, Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), said the policy must reflect how small-scale miners would be funded as well as issues such as technology and data gathering.

Sani said it should reflect the value chain benefits as well as ways of making mining a real enterprise that will bring substantial revenue to the government. 

ODINAKA ANUDU