- Title: Nigerians urged to buy local products to turn around import economy.
- Date: 25th March 2016
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOLAJI OKUSAGA (SOUNDBITE) (English) BUSINESS ANALYST, BOLAJI OKUSAGA, SAYING: "I think government needs to be smarter about its options. The journey is not going to be... the fact that you are starting the journey now does not mean that you are going to see the destination immediately but at least let's have some kind of consistency in policies and actions that shows that we are truly walking the talk, you know in terms of helping to galvanize local energy towards... you know a local production and helping to raise local demands and creation of jobs." OGUN, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOTTLES BEING FILLED WITH LEMON JUICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) WILSON'S JUICE COMPANY, CO-FOUNDER, SEYI ABOLAJI SAYING: "I also want to put responsibility on people like us and more of us Nigerian based manufacturers to produce better, to make Nigeria prouder through the products we produce. You know forcing people to buy our products isn't sustainable. What is sustainable is producing products that are world class standard."
- Embargoed: 9th April 2016 12:27
- Keywords: Agriculture Made in Nigeria Local Industry Companies Oil Economy Farming Business
- Location: LAGOS, ABUJA AND OGUN, NIGERIA
- City: LAGOS, ABUJA AND OGUN, NIGERIA
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Government/Politics,International Trade
- Reuters ID: LVA0054AFEAMV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Six years ago, an investment of 10 US dollars and a bucket of lemons launched a Nigerian lemonade business that is worth 10 million US dollars today.
Wilson's Juice Company buys truck-loads of locally grown lemons and produces between 2000 and 2500 bottles of lemonade daily.
With the recent fall in the naira following a plummet in oil prices, Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude exporter put in place restriction on imports in a bid to boost local industry.
That along with a shortage of dollars, has been good news for homegrown companies like Wilson's which for years have had to compete with vast imports of fruit juices from Europe and South Africa.
Seyi Abolaji is a co-founder of Wilson's Juice Company.
"People are clamouring and hammering about devaluation of the naira, the economy is slowing down, so many things going wrong, and we just see this as an opportunity. We have seen it for years but now we believe this is the time for us to really shine," said Abolaji.
Nigerian officials and private sector players are renewing a push to promote local industries and save the economy.
Social media campaigns have urged Nigerians to buy products 'made in Naija - a popular slang term for Nigeria, ranging from cornflakes to handbags. One post on naij.com highlighted local shoe designs with the statement - "leave Italian shoes for Italians".
The Nigerian senate recently adopted a motion seeking the amendment of the Procurement Act to compel all government agencies and institutions to give priority to locally made products.
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe says this will have a great impact on local industries.
"The procurement act, which was passed by the National Assembly... there is a provision in section 34, 1, 2 and 3. There is provision for purchasing made in Nigeria goods. That one is there, but in that provision it says that the people doing the procurement may first look at made in Nigeria before looking elsewhere, and since the operating word there is 'may', what it means is that it now depends on the individual whether he would like to do it or not. So what we are going to do, and what we have proposed to do and we have sent to the National Assembly is to change that word from 'may' to 'shall.' In other words, the first option policy of buying a made in Nigeria good is mandatory, once it becomes the word shall. So it's a very small amendment but the impact and repercussions are very very large," he said.
Nigeria has tens of millions of farmers, most of whom work on a subsistence basis and live on less than $2 a day. Meanwhile the country produces 1.5 million tonnes of tomatoes annually of which 45 percent perish. It is also among the world's largest importers of rice and the biggest buyer of U.S. wheat, while much of its own fertile land lies fallow.
Poor infrastructure, unreliable electricity supply and lack of machinery and warehousing are some of the problems keeping farmers back.
The rocketing food import bill, against a backdrop of a weakening naira and strong dollar, contributed to consumer inflation rising to 9.4 percent year-on-year in September last year, its highest level since February 2013.
President Muhammadu Buhari Buhari has said a strengthened agriculture sector would create jobs and reduce the reliance on costly food imports.
"I think government needs to be smarter about its options. The journey is not going to be... the fact that you are starting the journey now does not mean that you are going to see the destination immediately but at least let's have some kind of consistency in policies and actions that shows that we are truly walking the talk, you know in terms of helping to galvanize local energy towards... you know a local production and helping to raise local demands and creation of jobs," said economic analyst, Bolaji Okusaga.
Companies like Wilson's say they are up to the task and are calling for more support and improvement of things like infrastructure and access to financing.
But producers must also work on boosting quality of processed goods.
"I also want to put responsibility on people like us and more of us Nigerian based manufacturers to produce better, to make Nigeria prouder through the products we produce. You know forcing people to buy our products isn't sustainable. What is sustainable is producing products that are world class standard," said Abolaji.
Nigeria has a population of over 170 million people. Some analysts say the "Buy Naija" push is about national pride and may not have any immediate effect on the economy, but it is in the spirit of harnessing Nigeria's own resources and the campaign to diversify away from oil. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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