Buy Nigeria, Buy Africa

Many thanks to the Executive and entire members of the North-West and South East branches of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) for the invitation to be the Guest Speaker at its 2015 General Meeting (AGM) which held on Thursday, 3rd of December.  The topic assigned to me: “Government Patronage of Made-in-Nigeria Products: A Panacea […]

Many thanks to the Executive and entire members of the North-West and South East branches of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) for the invitation to be the Guest Speaker at its 2015 General Meeting (AGM) which held on Thursday, 3rd of December.  The topic assigned to me: “Government Patronage of Made-in-Nigeria Products: A Panacea for Industrial Growth and Development” was quite apt and timely. With renewed commitment by the federal government to reindustrialization and economic diversification, (thanks to the collapse of oil price), patronizing Nigerian made goods and services is a critical success factor for Nigerian economy. MAN representing nearly 2000 companies in private and public sectors in manufacturing, construction and service sectors of the national economy is 44 years old. Formed in 1971, paradoxically the same year the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti hit the market with his Album, Buy Africa. It is time we eliminated all the unhelpful misconception that locally made products are low quality. The strengths of Nigeria’s manufacturing include biggest domestic market, abundant raw materials, strategic location and abundant labour. The major weaknesses include, poor infrastructure, cost of financing, smuggling, policy inconsistency and poor patronage among others.
President Muhammadu Buhari is proposing a budget of about N8 trillion for 2016.
The budget is twice last year’s, which was N4.4 trillion. But even at that, this budget spending is still one of the lowest in the world. The average annual spending for the world’s 20 largest economies (in terms of GDP) is $16,110 per citizen. Norway and Sweden top the list with per citizen spending of $40,908 and $26,760 respectively. The federal government of the USA spends an average of $11,041 per citizen (per capita), ahead of only South Korea ($4,557), Brazil ($2,813), Russia ($2,458), China ($1,010), and India ($226) in the twenty largest world economies. Nigeria’s 8 trillion Naira budget translates to less than $200 per citizen annually!     
There is an urgent need to rebuild Nigeria through targeted efficient massive productive spending. President Buhari must be weary of the emergency advisers who claim falsely that government has no business in business. Government not only has business in business, the art of governance itself is a business that must be done. It is true that the Private sector is the engine of growth. But it is the government that oils the private sector engine failing which the private sector engine will knock. One of the ways government can oil manufacturing engine is government patronage of locally produced goods. In terms of spending, the federal government is still the biggest spender. The question is what products does government spend on? Are the products made in Nigeria, in Africa or in Europe or Asia? Development is all about choices. What is however clear is that nations are run based on interests.
Nigerian leaders should jettison this simplistic notion that China or India are our “friends”. Definitely no nation is an enemy of Nigeria. But no nation is founded on the principle of being ‘friend’ to other nations. All nations are theoretically friendly once there is no mutual aggression. But what is clear is that in the globalized world, each nation pursues its own interest. India-Africa and China-Africa economic summits are largely to advance the interest of India and China respectively. When India and China give grants or even loans it is with a view of patronizing goods made by these countries and create mass jobs for their respective citizens. I urge President Buhari and the new Ministers of Industry, Trade and Investment, to implement the recommendations of 2014 Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan and the Committee on the Economy, Trade and Investment of the 2014 National Conference. The two reports emphasis government patronage as a critical success factor in industrial growth and development. Public procurement must be seen as a growth/developmental tool.
Governments globally use public procurement for social engineering and economic development. I just returned from COSATU conference in Midrand, South Africa.
What is good for South Africa is even more desirable for Nigeria. Given the specific challenges faced by companies in Nigeria we must enforce the existing local patronage policies and laws that include: Public Procurement Act 2007. The Existing provisions of the public procurement Act must be enforced, such as MDAs having full local patronage on specific items like military, paramilitary and school uniforms, boots, furniture and educational books and stationeries, as well as others already stipulated.
Let me recommend Governor Mallam El Rufai to other states governors in this respect. I learnt that the moribund Kaduna furniture factory is almost back to produce thousands of school desks for public schools in Kaduna. The Governor has also promised textile mills to produce school uniforms. Crittal Hope is also back to life producing windows and needed metals to fix the class rooms. We must re-energize “Buy Naija” Campaign to target large private sector corporates and the general consumer public on the need to patronize locally made goods for industrial development.  With a total population of 167 million people, Nigeria ranks as the 7th most populated country in the world. Nigeria spends well over US$30 billion annually importing various manufactured goods (over 50 percent of the import bill); a robust patronized local industry will ensure domestication of a large segment of these products and create millions of the much needed jobs.