President Bola Tinubu is expected to sign the proposed 30 per cent Raw Materials Value Addition Bill into law in November, paving the way for mandatory local processing of raw materials before export.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Senator Aminu Iya Abbas, disclosed this on Monday on the sidelines of the Second Africa Raw Materials Summit in Abuja.
Abbas said the National Assembly was working to facilitate the presidential assent to the bill, which aims to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on exporting unprocessed commodities while promoting local manufacturing, job creation and economic growth.
According to him, the proposed legislation is expected to be returned to the Senate for further processing ahead of its anticipated signing by the President.
The senator added that cooperation between the executive and legislative arms of government would be crucial to ensuring the successful implementation of the policy.
He cited the example of an unnamed African country that reportedly rejected plans for a foreign refinery because it wanted to establish its own facility to serve its citizens.
Abbas said Nigeria and other African countries should embrace similar policies by developing domestic processing capacity to maximise the economic benefits of their natural resources.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, seeks to mandate at least 30 per cent local processing and value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.
It is designed to encourage domestic industries to process minerals, agricultural produce and other natural resources locally, thereby creating employment opportunities and retaining more economic value within the country.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Professor Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, projected that the policy could generate more than 1.2 million skilled jobs within five years.
He said the proposed legislation would also attract foreign direct investment into local industrial clusters and boost Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings.
According to Ike-Muonso, the council is working to bridge the gap between research and industrial production through policies that promote local processing, technology acquisition and the development of equipment suited to the country’s raw materials.
He described the proposed law as a major step towards transforming Nigeria’s industrial sector and reducing its reliance on exporting primary commodities.
Also speaking at the summit, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, said Africa’s economic challenge was not a lack of raw materials but its limited capacity to transform them into finished products.
He urged stakeholders at the summit to develop practical recommendations that would strengthen Nigeria’s industrial capacity and ensure the country derives greater benefits from its natural resources.
