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Nigeria needs to revolutionise its industrial sector to become an economic giant .
Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank made this declaration in his address to an audience gathered for Business Day Nigeria’s 2023 CEO Forum in Lagos recently.
Akinwumi regretted that Nigeria is developing too slowly and far below its potential and would need to industrialise to make real impact and transform the lives of its people and Africa as a whole.
He maintained that “the challenge is for the lion to roar. Then we will have the making of an economic giant.Industrial manufacturing can earn Nigeria ten times what it earns from oil dependence.”
The Bank chief warned that Nigeria’s industries would remain uncompetitive if the country did not resolutely address the shortage and reliability of electricity.
He disclosed that to help accelerate industrialisation in the country, the African Development Bank is working closely with the Nigerian government, seven state governments and the Federal Capital Territory to design agro-industrial special processing zones, which will create at least 1.5 million jobs.
He added that the African Development Bank and its partners have already mobilised $520 million for the first phase of these zones in Nigeria.
“The day Nigeria wakes up and becomes a lion king, everything will change for its people, and everything will change for all of Africa…That future is already here. It is time to re-imagine industrial manufacturing in Nigeria,” Adesina concluded in his speech, referencing the popular Disney film, “The Lion King”, which is the highest grossing animated film of all time.
