The Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has called on Nigeria to reduce its dependence on imported finished goods by expanding domestic manufacturing, processing raw materials locally and strengthening its export capacity.\n<\/p>\n
Rabiu made the call on Monday while delivering a keynote address at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, where he argued that Nigeria could not achieve sustainable economic prosperity by remaining predominantly a consumer of foreign products.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria must not remain simply a supplier of raw materials or a market for finished goods. We must become a nation that processes, manufactures, and exports,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The industrialist identified Nigeria\u2019s cement industry as evidence that domestic investment and supportive industrial policies could transform an import-dependent sector into an export-oriented industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot so long ago, Nigeria was importing almost 80 per cent of the cement that we were consuming. Today, through deliberate policies and major private sector investments, Nigeria has become self-sufficient in cement production and is now an exporter,\u201d he stated.\n<\/p>\n
Rabiu said the transformation resulted from investments in processing locally available limestone, citing BUA\u2019s cement operations in Sokoto and Edo states.\n<\/p>\n
He urged the government and private sector to replicate the experience in agriculture, food processing and other manufacturing industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria must increasingly grow what it consumes, manufacture what it needs, and export more of what it produces,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n
Highlighting BUA\u2019s expansion plans, Rabiu said its two listed subsidiaries, BUA Foods and BUA Cement, have a combined market capitalisation of more than $17bn.<\/p>\n
He said BUA Foods was valued at over $10bn, while BUA Cement had a market capitalisation of about $7bn.\n<\/p>\n
He also announced ongoing investments in flour milling, pasta, noodles, edible oils, rice milling and feed mills, with completion expected in 2027.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThese projects are expected to be completed, insha\u2019Allah, by next year, doubling our production capacity,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Rabiu further highlighted the group\u2019s integrated sugar project in Lafiagi, Kwara State, involving sugarcane cultivation, sugar refining, ethanol production and electricity generation.\n<\/p>\n
On economic reforms, he acknowledged that the removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange liberalisation and other government policies had imposed significant costs on households and businesses.<\/p>\n
However, he maintained that improvements in foreign exchange availability had reduced manufacturers\u2019 dependence on direct allocations from the Central Bank of Nigeria. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs an industrialist, I would rather operate in a transparent market where I can plan than in a system where the official rate appears attractive but foreign exchange is unavailable,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
He recalled previously visiting the CBN regularly to seek foreign exchange allocations, describing the current market arrangement as more predictable.\n<\/p>\n
Despite the improvements, Rabiu identified expensive borrowing, inadequate infrastructure and policy uncertainty as major obstacles to industrial expansion.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot build a strong industrial economy primarily with expensive short-term financing,\u201d he warned.\n<\/p>\n
He explained that manufacturing investments often required between 10 and 20 years to generate their full returns, making affordable long-term capital essential.\n<\/p>\n
Rabiu consequently called for greater mobilisation of pension funds, insurance capital and other institutional investments into productive enterprises.<\/p>\n
He also advocated the emergence of 100 additional major Nigerian industrial companies to expand employment, strengthen local supply chains and increase exports.\n<\/p>\n
The BUA chairman urged Nigeria to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area through improved transport infrastructure, efficient ports, payment systems and easier cross-border movement.\n<\/p>\n
He proposed a new economic accord anchored on policy stability, productive investment, human capital development, long-term financing and shared prosperity.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the true measure of economic success is not simply whether our economy grows. It is whether that growth changes the lives of Nigerians,\u201d Rabiu said.\n<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s push to expand domestic food production also follows the recent introduction of Bakers Pride Flour by BUA Foods at a trade launch held in Kano, as part of efforts to broaden its product portfolio and serve Nigerian bakers.\n<\/p>\n
The company said the new flour brand was developed for different baking applications, including gurasa, a popular Northern Nigerian flatbread, and conventional bread, with an emphasis on consistent quality and commercial value.\n<\/p>\n
Speaking at the launch, the Managing Director of BUA Foods, Ayodele Abioye, said the product was designed to support bakers\u2019 productivity and business growth, while the General Manager of Brand and Corporate Communications, Adewunmi Desalu, stressed the need to balance product quality with the commercial realities facing bakers.<\/p>\n
The General Manager of Sales, Alim Liman, also highlighted the importance of distributors, wholesalers and retailers in ensuring market availability, saying the company would strengthen partnerships across its distribution network to support the new product\u2019s expansion.\n <\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
The Founder and Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has called on Nigeria to reduce its dependence on imported finished goods by expanding domestic manufacturing, processing raw materials… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}