BY Busola Aro
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria must concentrate more on local production to survive the Russia-Ukraine war.
Osinbajo said this on Tuesday at the national conference on non-oil export organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in Abuja.
He said the country needs to urgently speed up local production of products to survive, following disruptions in the global supply chain caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
“With the Ukrainian invasion and with what is going on in the supply chain, if we do not concentrate on local production, it will be extremely difficult to cope. The theme, “Export for Survival”, carries an urgency that perfectly frames the challenges we will increasingly face if we do not accelerate the diversification of the Nigerian economy,” Osinbajo said.
Osinbajo added that Nigeria is yet to unlock the full potential of the non-oil sector.
He urged regulators in the Nigerian business environment to act as promoters and to ensure the survival of local businesses.
“We must seek to achieve a situation where regulators see themselves as facilitators of businesses. So our job as government is to assiduously enable businesses with regulatory policies, procedures and processes that are continuously optimised for greater efficiency and ease the flow of business across sectors,” he added.
He said stakeholders should produce practical and far-reaching recommendations that will revitalise the non-oil sector and the overall economy.
On his part, Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the Federation (SGF), said the world is recovering from the devastating impact of the pandemic, which slowed economic growth, as well as the conflict in Europe, which has resulted in high prices of commodities.
He also said Nigeria has not maximised the benefits of the non-oil sector.creased tremendously.
“For instance, it can be said that the production of rice padding has grown from less than 4 million tonnes to about 5 million metric tonnes in the last three years. These are clear indications that the policies of the government have boosted production and non-oil exports,” he said.
Mustapha added that it was important that while Nigeria strives to boost non-oil exports, it should also improve the quality and standard of commodities.
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