Stories by Amaka Ifeakandu
Lagos
Managing Director Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo has listed . infrastructure development, enhancement of Intra-regional trade , security and enabling business environment as key factors that will fastrack growth in non oil sector. Okonwo who made this observation in Lagos at a breakfast meeting said infrastructure development will help to reduce business operating cost.
He expressed the need for the government to emphasis on the areas of Power, transport (Railways/Seaports), storage facilities for Agricultural produce and broadband penetration. Explaining further, he said there was need for government to improve security and enabling business environment to encourage new entrants and also attract foreign Direct Investments FDIs. He said that apart from having more streamline and expedite business registration and incorporation process, it is expected to have favourable tax and other fiscal regimes. Urging government to Increased focus on Agriculture Value chain, he said deliberate plan needed to enhance farm inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizer and allied products, etc. and mechanization to drive increased
yield/hectare. He said that establishment of a functional Agro Commodity Exchange Market in Nigeria will attract big ticket investments in the Agric Space. Okonkwo pointed out that facilitation of SME capacity development in the areas of product quality control, packaging, supply chain management and processing of export documentation will speed up growth in non oil sector. He further said that streamlining of bureaucracies and bottlenecks faced by SMEs in assessing intervention funds from Government promoted DFIs would enable the non oil sector to grow.
The Fidelity bank boss said the Nigerian Potential Export Supply Base is as diverse as the country itself, adding that Nigeria has over 5,000 exportable commodities and manufactured products, he said the entertainment Industry is also one of the fastest growing export opportunities hubs in the country (examples of Music and Home video “exports”). Also speaking the Director General Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Mrs Gloria Elemo said that fund inadequacy, lack of incentives to technology users, low subsidy and poor packaging were major challenges of harnessing appropriate raw material for export production. Other challenges includes Poor quality product, inadequate product improvement strategies, infrastructural inadequacies, policy instabilities and poor implementation.
