Nigerians spent $3bn annually on foreign goods - MAN

©pavel shlykov via 123RF

Speaking at a media parley in Lagos, over the weekend, Jacobs said the association had been carrying out an advocacy campaign for the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products since 2016 in collaboration with ENABLE2, a United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) programme, aimed at improving patronage of locally made products by Nigerians, government, its ministries, departments and agencies through an effective and inward-looking public procurement process.

He said, "Undoubtedly, the government remains the largest single spender in the economy and could drive industrial development and economic growth by increasing its patronage of locally made products. Government prefers foreign goods and Nigerian manufacturers lose an average of $3bn annually as a result."

Jacobs noted that within a short period of the commencement of the advocacy, the campaign had recorded some progress with the call for the review of the current Public Procurement Act; introduction of the executive order on improved government's patronage of local products and the current build up against smuggling and counterfeiting activities in Nigeria.

He said, "It is an established fact that when we buy foreign goods, we pay the returns to factors used in producing them in the originating countries. That is to say that we pay wages, rent, interest and profit to foreign countries with our local resources."

Also speaking at the event, a consumer advocate and founder, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, Sola Salako-Ajulo, urged the media to magnify the campaign so that everybody would be aware of it. She acknowledged the media as the greatest platform for public advocacy, adding that once the made-in-Nigeria concept was promoted by the media, every Nigerian would tap into it.

"Most intriguing is the fact that when we buy foreign goods, we expand the industrial base of the producing country, thereby creating more jobs there, to the detriment of our local economy."