TheCable

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says plans are underway to compel ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to patronise made-in-Nigeria products. 

She was speaking on Thursday at the maiden edition of state house briefing in Abuja.

Ahmed said states will also be encouraged to take similar measures. 

“We will be hoping to have a federal executive council approval to compel federal government agencies to buy made-in-Nigeria vehicles as much as is practicable. 

“So when the security agencies need a security vehicle that is a special design, and you don’t have it in Nigeria, we will still need to buy the ones that are outside. 

“It is important for us because we want to make sure the automotive industry survives and grows. 

“The federal ministry of industry, trade and investment has just finished a review of automated policy, which has been running now for seven years. 

“I must say that the policy has not been reviewed before, so this is the first review that is being done and the essence of the review is to see whether it has achieved the designed targets.

“Once the ministry gets its approvals, then the review will be announced and perhaps there will be a refreshing of the measures that are contained in that policy.”

Also, on Monday, Dikko Umaru Radda, director-general of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), encouraged Nigerians to patronise made-in Nigeria products. 

The SMEDAN boss said patronising these products serves as a way of supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which will in turn contribute significantly to job creation, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.