RMRDC: 30% Raw Material Value Addition Policy Could Create 1.2m Jobs

Nigeria could generate more than 1.2 million skilled jobs within five years if a proposed policy requiring 30 per cent domestic value addition to raw materials before export is implemented, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has said.

The Director-General of the council, Professor Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, disclosed this in Abuja during a briefing ahead of the second Africa Raw Materials Summit scheduled for October 19 and 20.

The summit will be held at the Abuja Continental Hotel under the theme, “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

According to the RMRDC, the proposed Raw Materials 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill seeks to establish a statutory minimum of 30 per cent domestic processing of Nigerian raw materials before they can be exported.

The council said the bill is currently awaiting presidential assent.

Ike-Muonso said implementation of the proposed measure could create more than 1.2 million skilled jobs over five years while encouraging import substitution, conserving foreign exchange and supporting the growth of local manufacturing.

The RMRDC also called for increased domestic processing of Nigeria’s non-renewable natural resources, which it valued at more than $582.4 billion.

Ike-Muonso said Africa needed to move away from what he described as the “pit-to-port” model, under which raw materials are exported while finished goods are brought back into the continent at higher costs.

He said greater local processing could expand employment, strengthen manufacturing and reduce the impact of fluctuations in international commodity prices on African economies.

The Africa Raw Materials Summit is expected to attract more than 1,800 delegates from across the continent, including investors, manufacturers, technology companies and other stakeholders in the industrial sector.