FOR Nigeria and indeed other African countries to command adequate respect in the global economy, the need for improved industrialization has been stressed.
According to experts, who gathered at the African Product Forum Lagos 2013, organised by the Institute for Government Research and Leadership Technology in Lagos, at the weekend, the African economy is heavily dependent on the production and exports of primary products and currently suffers from the associated risks of this dependence.
To them, the continent currently accounts for a negligible three per cent share of global industrial output and manufactured exports, stressing that only a few country in the continent have manufacturing and value added GDP share of up to 15 per cent.
According to them, Nigeria reported an average of four per cent industrial contribution to GDP over the last decade.
Executive Chairman, Toky Chemical Manufacturers limited, Olawuwo Oni noted that exporting of goods to other countries is not a child play and that the business is not meant for those who were not properly initiated.
Considering the desirability of active participation in the global market, he said “Exportation is of great importance to the economy of any country because it impact greatly on the value of local currency and create employments.
“No nation of the world can significantly grow its economy by simply trading with itself, it has to trade with other countries around the world to grow its economy to an enviable size.”
Oni said that the benefit of international trade hinged on comparative advantage, stressing that exporting products in which its absolute advantage was greatest and importing product in which its absolute advantage in comparatively less.
Relating the comparative advantage to Nigeria economy, he said “our vast array of natural resources and things we can do namely solid mineral, agricultural products cassava, yam maize, cashew nut amongst, giving us potentially huge source of competitive advantage in the export market place.
He said that Nigeria has the challenge of adding value to its exportable product through product developments, saying “we import high cost value added product and sell low value product. “
To the immediate past president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Goodie Ibru, Nigeria and other African countries must take advantage of new opportunities offered by globalization by launching enterprises, putting in place for upgrading, developing human resources, strengthening its capacities for innovation, by accepting the facts of industrilsation.
“Industrilisation is a critical engine of economic growth and development. The fact that Africa remains the poorest region of the world, where 34 out of the 50 least developed countries in the world are located and in which poverty is on the increase, is a reflection of its low level of industrialization and product acceptability in global space. There exists a strong linkage between industrial productive capacity, economic growth and level of development,” he stated.
According to him, opening up the African market to the world ought to have moved from a vision to a reality in the past decade, saying that while the continent still struggles with poor intra-trade relations, opening up its market to the world may seem to be a challenging but not impossible task.
For Africa’s products to gain acceptability on the global space, Ibru said some critical priorities need to be addressed at national, regional, continental and international levels, which include; policy on product and export diversification; management and development; infrastructure development; human capital development and sustainability, innovation, science and technology; development of standards and compliance.
Others are development of legal, institutional and regulatory framework, resource mobilisation for industrial development and so on.
“Africa has the potentials for its products to become competitive at the global market but only if we put our infrastructure right and allow our goods to be of good standards, then we can begin the journey of acceptability of our products globally,” he stated.
By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola
No comments:
Post a Comment