Procter and Gamble (P&G) Nigeria, a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturer, recently engaged select local raw material suppliers in Nigeria to an interactive meeting, with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) and representatives from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), to assess the capability of local businesses and seek their participation in strengthening raw material localisation objectives in line with the Backward Integration Program (BIP) of the federal government in Lagos.
George Nassar, managing director, P&G Nigeria, in a statement, said the company currently procures 100 per cent of the packaging materials for its products locally, intending to increase its local sourcing of raw materials.
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According to Nassar, the meeting will accelerate P&G local sourcing projects, while commending the ministry’s gesture to engage with local businesses.
He, however, charged the Federal Government to continue its efforts towards enabling local entrepreneurship development and building the capabilities required to produce raw materials locally in actualising the government’s economic development agenda.
Francis Alaneme, deputy director, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, in his remarks, said the collaboration with corporate organisations like P&G to engage local businesses will grant the ministry more access to notable suppliers of raw materials in the manufacturing sector.
According to him, P&G has a long-standing record of building the capability of local businesses for growth and development and enabling local entrepreneurship development. “We want to increase the local sourcing of raw materials in the country and it is imperative to create opportunities like this to promote growth and provide a platform for cross-sharing and capability building,” Alaneme said.
Temitope Iluyemi, director of government relations and public policy, P&G Africa Operations, said backward integration is essential to the growth of the Nigerian economy and P&G’s aim is to promote technology transfer. “We will work to pre-qualify local suppliers for materials used in the production of consumer packaged products and, by extension, build the capability of local manufacturers to compete effectively in regional value chains and further strengthen the diversification efforts of the Nigerian government,” he concludes.
SEYI JOHN SALAU
