President Goodluck Jonathan has launched the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), aimed at ushering in a new era for industrial, micro, small and medium enterprises development in Nigeria.
Speaking during the launch yesterday in Abuja, Jonathan described the NIRP as the most ambitious and comprehensive road map that would transform the nation’s industrial landscape, boost skills development, enhance job creation and conserve foreign exchange.
He said: “The NIRP is the flagship industrialisation programme ever embarked upon by this country. It will fast-track industrialisation, accelerate inclusive economic growth, job creation, transform Nigeria’s business environment and stop the drain on our foreign reserves caused by importing what we can produce locally.”
He said the plan was the most ambitious and comprehensive industrialisation programme since it is based on the areas where Nigeria has a competitive and comparative advantage.
He identified such areas as agriculture and agro-products, metals and solid minerals, oil and gas, construction and light manufacturing services, stressing that the enumerated sectors are where Nigeria could be number one in Africa and in the top 10 globally.
The president said the NIRP would address all the major physical constraints impeding industrialisation, improve the nation’s investment climate and promote the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products.
“The goal of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan is to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP from the present four per cent to more than 10 per cent over the next five years. This will boost the annual revenue earnings of the Nigerian manufacturers by up to N5 trillion per annum,” the president said.
Jonathan further explained that NEDEP would help reposition the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector as the major driver of job creation and inclusive economic growth, adding that the federal government would continue to promote the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products through the implementation of its local patronage policies and programmes.
He said NEDEP was designed to develop and grow the MSMEs because all over the world, MSMEs are the primary drivers of employment, adding that with the successful implementation of NEDEP, Nigeria would attain her dream of inclusive economic growth.
“A survey conducted by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2010 showed that we have about 17 million MSMEs, employing over 32 million people.
“If each of these 17 million MSMEs employ one more person, we will create an additional 17 million jobs thereby reducing unemployment in our country,” Jonathan revealed.
The president added: “The NIRP and NEDEP will give additional impetus to our Transformation Agenda by ensuring value addition, enterprise development and industrialisation.
“On our own part, the federal government will continue to support local manufacturers by buying vehicles that are made in Nigeria. And as long as those vehicles are produced in this country, the federal government will buy them. So we also encourage the state governments to support the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products in their states.”
In his welcome address, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said the holistic and integrated nature of the NIPR and NEDEP had provided synergy and necessary linkages with other development plans of the various ministries, departments and agencies of government and the private sector, promising that the ministry would partner all the stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the programmes.
“The NIRP and NEDEP are both holistic and integrated. This means that they are joined at the waist with other MDAs. The NIRP and NEDEP adopt inclusive structures which bring in other government agencies and the private sector to ensure adequate policy synergy,” Aganga said.
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