Experts say that while the majority of industries in Nigeria are hard pressed to source scarce foreign exchange to import raw materials, a lot of these inputs are locally available and can be sourced and processed at competitive cost.
They add that the effort to source and process these inputs would reduce pressure on the foreign exchange market, create jobs along the value chain and lower the cost and anxiety of sourcing for raw materials abroad.
“We have enough limestone that feeds cement industries. Some of our limestone is used for the production of animal feed and they meet the accepted standards. We have feldspars and silica used by manufacturers of glass and ceramics,” Shehu Sani, president of the Miners Association of Nigeria told BusinessDay.
Findings show that Nigerian silica meets the globally accepted grades of up to 99.5 percent SiO2, necessary for the manufacture of glass, optical fibres and ceramics.
The limestone deposits in Nigeria are rich in calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Limestone in Sokoto State, used by cement makers in the north, contains 81 percent CaCO3, according to two scientists, Felix Bamidele Fatoye and Yomi Barnabas Gideon of the Mineral Resources Engineering Department of Kogi State Polytechnic.
The limestone deposit at Ashaka in Gombe State is good for cement production and was also used at some point, by a super-phosphate fertilizer company based in Kaduna.
Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, and BUA Cement, source between 90 to 95 percent of limestone locally, according to industry analysis by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
Nigerian cassava flour used by millers, brewers and other food makers is noted for meeting the 13 percent moisture content stipulated by CODEX, a collection of internationally recognised standards, codes of practice, and guidelines.
“I am a manufacturer and I used to import raw materials from the UK, but today, all my raw materials are 100 percent produced here, and they are comparable to what we used to import,” said Abdul Alimi-Bello, president, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) in an interview with BusinessDay.
“So the issue of poor quality is what I don’t believe,” Alimi-Bello said, to dispute the view in some quarters that local raw materials are not good enough.
FrieslandCampmina WAMCO, Dutch dairy maker in Nigeria, currently uses local milk from Fulani herdsmen in Oyo State. Contrary to claims that local milk from herdsmen is not good enough, the dairy maker monitors milking of cows by herdsmen and has taught herdsmen themselves how to identify milk that is safe for dairy production.
At different stages of their growth, South Africa, China, Vietnam and India were forced to look inwards when they faced headwinds.
However, some of the inputs in Nigeria are in their raw states and require beneficiation or further processing to meet standards, say experts. A few of the companies that use agro inputs sometimes complain of poor inputs quality because of the variety of crops used during planting.
“We work with local suppliers and ensure they develop raw materials to our standards. We give them specifications and sometimes pay them in advance to ensure they get the necessary equipment needed to raise the quality standards,” Tunde Oyelola, vice president of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, told BusinessDay.
A farmer Charles Uzoka, who supplies cassava starch to companies said he works with research institutes to get quality hybrid seeds or high-quality cassava seeds that meets the set standards of multinationals.
According to Shehu Sani, what the government needs to do is to provide support for companies that do beneficiation( processing of minerals).
“We have to start beneficiating our minerals. The mining components need to be supported by government and beneficiation too needs government assistance. It is expensive and an assistance of this nature can help increase the quantity of locally available inputs and reduce importation,” Sani added.
ODINAKA ANUDU
