Akpabio: Senate to Enforce 30% Value Addition Requirement Before Raw Material Exports
Akpabio: Senate to Enforce 30% Value Addition Requirement Before Raw Material Exports
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stated that the National Assembly will enforce a law requiring at least 30 percent local value addition before any raw materials can be exported.
Akpabio made the remarks on Wednesday during a visit from members of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), led by the council’s Director-General, Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, at his Abuja office.
According to a statement by Jackson Udom, the lawmaker’s special assistant on media, Akpabio described the proposed amendment to the RMRDC Act as a “moral compass” for other African countries.
“If any of the values were to be added in Nigeria before exporting them, we would have had at least, a factory for those chains that would have also created jobs for our people outside what the farmers are doing,” he said.
“Technological shifts would have also come in in terms of innovations.”
Akpabio said Nigeria’s renewed commitment to research and value chains must be matched with legislative support.
“It is truly regrettable that Nigeria produces significant quantities of cocoa, yet we still find ourselves importing cocoa products from other countries at much higher prices,” the politician remarked. “This situation not only undermines our local producers but also means that the value and potential profits from processing and manufacturing are lost to foreign markets. Instead of benefiting from our own raw materials, we are incurring unnecessary costs and missing out on opportunities for economic growth and job creation within the country.”
