Hundreds of manufacturers are preparing for a 3-in-1 expo, which will see local and international companies congregating in Lagos in March.
The event, which holds at Landmark Event Centre between March 12 and 14, will collocate Manufacturing & Equipment Expo with the Raw Materials Expo and the Multimodal West Africa.
The event is significant as it enables manufacturers to understand and learn locally available raw materials that are not put to proper use.
It will also show manufacturers available machines that can solve some of their production problems.
Moreover, Multimodal West Africa is the largest transport and logistics. By collocating it with the two events, manufacturers can now establish contact with the best transport and logistics firms across the world.
Prominent government officials and policy makers will be at the event. Experts believe the event is part of Nigeria’s vision towards achieving economic expansion and increasing growth.
The event’s theme is, ‘Optimising Value Chain in Manufacturing Sector to Ensure Sustainable Growth and Competitiveness’.
Joseph Oru of Clarion Events, who is also the project manager of the event, said the manufacturing and raw materials expos, which are in their fifth year, have been the only platform where manufacturers get the latest technology in the sector.
Oru said there will be conferences where experts speak to owners of micro, small and medium businesses on how to scale their business and achieve growth.
He added that another conference will be devoted to women in manufacturing sector. Women manufacturers will listen to their successful peers, who will tell their success stories and reveal how they succeeded.
He disclosed that big firms such as Dangote Group, Sona Group, Procter &Gamble, among others, as well as those from Italy, South Africa and other countries will participate in the event.
“Our biggest achievement so far is that we have solved the problem of bringing local raw materials to manufacturers,” Oru said.
“In the last three years, manufacturers have sourced more raw materials locally,” he said, adding that several companies are trying to explore backward integration.
On her part, Mayowa Nunayon of Clarion Events explained that the event has become important as many manufacturers do not know many locally available inputs.
“They now know that many raw materials are available locally,” she said.
Jafar Abdullahi, planning officer at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), said his organisation uses the event to support manufacturers in their quest to source inputs locally.
According to data from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), utilisation of local raw materials by manufacturers in Nigeria stood at 56.6 percent in the first half of 2018.
ODINAKA ANUDU
