Aganga: Nigeria Requires Consistency to Achieve Industrial Revolution

Nume Ekeghe

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has stressed the need for consistency in government policies in order to successfully execute the nation’s industrial revolution plan.

 

The minister made this known at the FBN Capital’s 4th Annual Investor Conference held yesterday in Lagos, where he spoke through a pre-recorded message. According to the minister, the nation spends about N3 billion on the importation of cars and about N3 billion also on the importation of vehicle parts.

“We have to diversify our economy to achieve the successful execution of the National Industrial Revolution Plan.

“Agriculture as a sector is still operating below its potential because the nation’s soil can grow just about any type of crop ranging from tomatoes to cotton and we have 44 solid minerals that we can focus on,” he said.

 

“It is achievable. All we need is consistency and implementation. We have already drafted plans in some areas and we have identified seven areas that can make this plan successful,” he added.

He identified access to finance, dearth of competitive industrial skills, non-availability of power and infrastructure and improved standardisation as some of the challenges facing the industrial sector.

According to him, the automobile sector is also a sector that can perform higher than its current performance.

“We must invest in the automobile industry,” he said, debunking reports that the national automotive policy is controversial and was prepared in a hurry.

 

On doing business in Nigeria, he said though the World Bank ranked Nigeria higher, the nation was not yet where it should be.

“That is not where I want us to be. By next year, I want us to rank higher. We are delighted that we have made progress but we should be far higher,” he said.

He added that the ease of starting a business in Nigeria would be further improved as the ministry was working towards online registration of businesses.

 

Also speaking at the conference through the same means, the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said the ICT Ministry was working with other government agencies to move the nation forward.

“There are changes in the sector but nothing has reached a critical mass. Voice has improved but there is still so much to do. We are making progress on internet penetration, that is reaching critical mass, but again, there is a tonne of work to do,” she said.

 

“We expect that there will be more than 100 per cent mobile penetration. We expect many more Nigerians to connect to the internet and have better speed. We expect a lot more relevant content which will compel more to get on the internet,” she said.

 

Speaking on the situation in the forex market, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said: “It is good to have a strong currency, but good to have and need to have are two different things. What the Central Bank and Nigeria need now is doing the right thing and doing it at the right time.

 

Culled from: thisdaylive.com