The Aba shoe industry project in
South-East Nigeria is heading for
global market with daily export fig­
ures of one million pairs to other
African countries, the President of
the Abia Think Tank Association,
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa has said.
Ohuabunwa , who stated this during
a press conference ahead of a two-
day economic summit in Aba, said
that the shoemakers produce quality
that compares with the Italian
brands, adding that despite leading
the Africa market, they are yet to
have presence outside the con­
tinent.
“We have started forming the
shoemakers into cooperative
societies so that they can have
access to funding from development
finance institutions like the Bank of
Industry as well as capacity building
and linkage to international market,
“ he said.
He explained that when he was in
Aba where they make shoes billed
for Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Gabon
even to Zaira over one million pairs
of shoes are exported daily out of
Aba.
“I found out that they were doing
the work without minimum support
from anybody. But when I calculated
their returns on those investments, I
found it was peanuts. They work like
elephant but eat like ant. They
sweat to bring in their ingenuity but
because they are not properly har­
nessed, the return on investments is
meager,” he said.
The former Chairman of Economic
Summit Group lamented that one of
the greatest problems facing made-
in-Nigeria products is the lack of
policy backing by the government.
“When products made- in- Nigeria
are patronized by government and
ordinary people then more goods
will be produced, wealth created and
prosperity will be spread among
Nigerians,” he said.
He stated that once the made-in-
Nigeria policy is sustained in the
medium and long term percentage of
Nigeria’s manufacturer products in
composite of export will increase and
percentage of total imported goods
will decrease.
If the policy is properly im­
plemented, he said there will be
wealth creation and more
employment in Nigeria.
He urged Nigerians to develop
confidence in Made-in-Nigeria
products and trade on the products
in order to facilitate more
productivity in the country.
Ohuabunwa pointed out that Aba
remains the economic and industrial
hub of Eastern states and Nigeria
with great potentialities yawning for
exploitation.
He explained that the forthcoming
summit with the theme, “Aba as the
Centerpiece of Abia Economic
Renaissance” will consolidate and
deepen the gains of the previous
edition and maintain the momentum
in focusing attention of private and
public sectors in Aba to resolve a ver­
itable and strategic roadmap for the
state’s development.
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