From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mining and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) has announced that its 44th International trade fair would hold in early February 2023 to guide against clashing with general elections scheduled to commence towards the end of the same month.
Briefing newsmen on the level of preparedness for the 44th edition of the fair, First Deputy President and Chairman, Trade Fair Main Organising Committee, Ishaya Idi said the fair is scheduled to hold between Friday, 3rd, to Sunday, 12th, February 2023 at the Kaduna International Trade and Investment Centre, Km 4, Kaduna – Zaria Expressway, Rigachikun, Kaduna.
According to Ishaya, the 44th edition is especially important as it coincides with the 50th year anniversary of KADCCIMA which is by any standard a landmark event with the then; “Promoting Value addition for Economic Growth and Development”.
He added that the theme was carefully chosen to compliment the efforts of the government in its attempt to promote the culture of value addition for industrial development and economic advancement of the country.
“In addition and for us in KADCCIMA, we note with great concern that despite the abundance and quality of solid minerals, agricultural products and raw materials, Nigeria continues to lose billions of naira annually on account of poor value addition to its production and export processes.
“As a matter of fact, the focus is placed more on instant profits received from exporting raw materials to the detriment of the huge potentials for job creation and gradual achievement of prosperity derivable from industrialization anchored on robust policy on value addition, the absence of which makes Nigeria to lose out in the global market.
“As a result, recent global business and economic data for manufacturing value added ranks Nigeria 40th out of 153 countries with a paltry 38.32 per cent which underscores the urgent need to put in substantial and sustained efforts in rapidly growing the value addition culture.
“Beyond improving and diversifying our export profile, it is important for local manufacturers to incorporate improved value addition into their production process to significantly impact the economy via job creation in the main and to reduce reliance on oil.
“We believe that there is a need for us to improve on our primary production to increase and expand the value chain, in addition to significantly incorporating value addition in our exports for optimal results.
“We equally believe that our present level of value addition coupled with low capacity utilization will most likely push Nigeria into an unfavourable position within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
“As most countries involved in the trade agreement have similar products and resources, we will, therefore, need to be innovative through a higher level of value addition to ensure effective competitiveness.
“On the side of participants and visitors to the Fair and with the marked improvement in the security situation, an improved turnout of both local and international participants is expected”, he added.