Leveraging Africa's natural resources to drive industrial, economic devt

Companies grow through proper funding and investment, and nations develop through good policies that inspire investment and industrialization.

A nation is said to be under-developed if it is unable to meet the economic, social, health, and other needs of its citizens. Unfortunately, this is the fate of most African countries today.

According to experts, development is achieved by improving the standards of living of citizens and raising their per capita income; industries and investments are the factors that drive that goal.

Industries enhance productivity, generate employment, and create wealth.

Countries invest in activities and policies that engender economic development and increase gross domestic product (GDP). Industrial development remains one of the means to realise that.

Conversely, countries lacking industries risk mass unemployment, low per capita income, extreme poverty, and under-development.

It was against this background that the United States Latino American Chamber of Commerce (USLACC) organised the African and Foreign Investment Trade Summit (AFRIFITS) in Abuja to stimulate Africa's economic growth.

The theme of the event was "Promotion of African Businesses, Synergy and Matchmaking Foreign Investments."

Speaking at the event, the President of USLACC, Dr Manolo Cevallos, said the goal of AFRIFITS was to market Africa as the world's hub of industrialisation.

He said that African economic growth was achievable if only foreign investors, Africans in the Diaspora, and African business communities united to invest in the continent.

Cevallos, represented at the event by Mrs. Ifeoma Ejiogu, a USLAAC staff member, said that AFRIFITS also aimed to contribute to the reform of African nations' economies with a view to accelerating international trade and investment.

He said that an African Region of USLAAC was meant to promote Africa's international trade potential.

Ejiogu said the world's attention was now turning to Africa to unlock the next wave of global business and economic opportunities with its largely untapped human and material resources.

Mr. Bethran Uzodinma, an industrialist, advised that to make Africa one of the global industry hubs, policy makers need to project its market strengths, such as its largely youthful population and huge mineral deposits, to the investing community.

Mr. Uche Egenti of the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) called on Nigerian entrepreneurs to rise to the challenge of the continent's socio-economic development.

It is time for Africa to be industrialized. The government cannot do everything. It is time to reason together and develop concepts that will catapult Africa to the world," Egenti said.

This view has been echoed by African leaders at different fora.

For instance, at the recent 2022 UN General Assembly (UNGA77) in New York, Ghana's President, Nana Akufo Addo, urged investors to support Africa's lucrative agro-industry.

He told the world leaders that Africa is ready for business in new frontiers such as manufacturing, technology, and food processing and production.

Local manufacturing will ensure that African economies benefit from reduced dependence on imported products from countries like China, Japan, and European nations, with positive implications for the market value of their local currencies.

There is also a need for increased investment in oil and gas to guarantee that the sector benefits the people of Africa.

Zamfara is one of the states in Nigeria where numerous mineral resources in commercial quantity have remained largely under-utilised, leading to very low industrialisation.

At a recent investment stakeholders' meeting organised by the Indian Government in Abuja, the state's Deputy Governor, Alhaji Hassan Nasiha, urged the Federal Government to connect the state with foreign investors for optimum utilisation of its numerous mineral resources.

Nasiha, who made the appeal through his Director-General of Press Affairs, Babangida Zurmi, said the state has huge deposits of gold, iron ore, tantalite, zinc, copper, and gypsum, among other numerous solid minerals.

He said that both its metallic and non-metallic resources were untapped in almost all the 14 local government areas of the state.

Nasiha said it was the desire of the state government to ensure that these mineral deposits had a positive impact on the lives of the people of the state.

Similarly, at a colloquium marking Nigeria's 62nd Independence, the keynote speaker, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, a Chartered Accountant and Chief Executive Officer of a UK-based charity, IA-Foundation, said investment in education was key to unraveling Nigeria's industrialisation puzzle.

She argued that Nigeria has not adequately funded an education system capable of producing young entrepreneurs with the know-how to maximize the nation's resources for industrial growth.

But all is not gloom, as some states have taken initiatives towards creating the enabling environment for industrialisation to blossom.

One of such states is Gombe, which said recently that it is planning to organise an investment summit to attract investors to tap into business opportunities in the state.

In Katsina State, the state government is preparing to host a groundbreaking economic summit for its two mega economic zone projects.

The move, the government said, is intended to project the potential of the state in textiles and other agricultural products that the state is endowed with.