The Chief Executive Officer of Majeurs Holdings, Demi Semande, has stressed the need for Nigerians, including the government and private sectors, to explore the manufacturing industry to create value and prosperity.
She said no nation can survive solely on oil.
Semande noted that through manufacturing, the country can get back on the global map by moving from a consuming to a producing economy, which she argued, would help youths to contribute meaningfully to nation-building.
According to her, the time to solely depend on oil is coming to an end and Nigeria needs innovations to sustain the economy and ensure the youthful population contributes their quota to nation-building which can be achieved through manufacturing.
“Is oil solving our problems? I don’t believe that. Oil has played its part and it has its role but no nation, especially one as rich as ours in natural resources, can survive simply on oil,” Semande said on Friday while addressing a press conference on her debut book, ‘In her hand: Shaping the future of manufacturing in Africa’.
She added, “As we’ve seen, oil has been there but we are not reaping all its rewards as a collective. I think we need to have multiple income streams and manufacturing is a big income stream that we are ignoring.
“If we begin to take manufacturing seriously, it can probably contribute to Nigeria’s revenue a lot more than oil in the long run, especially consistently as well over a long time.”
She explained that through her entrepreneurial journey, she realised that there was a need for more conversations around manufacturing and the need for government and private entities to support the industry.
She said, “I want this book to be a conversational starter on why we can no longer afford a country and as a continent to ignore manufacturing as a means to transform the lives of young people genuinely.
“If we really want true growth and an environment that inspires people, we really need to be sincere about one thing to be a country that is self-sustaining, a country that can not only support itself but create value in the global market also, we absolutely and unequivocally cannot afford to continue ignoring manufacturing as a way to create opportunities and a way to create prosperity.”
“I am a product of manufacturing and my wish is to ultimately see more young people genuinely coming into the manufacturing industry because the industry cannot be sustained by itself.
“We need innovation and support so desperately and we need people to understand that as a country, we are leaving so much money on the table by not empowering our nation by taking our raw materials and natural resources seriously by processing them for the manufacturing industry to turn it into value-added products,” she added.
Giving insights into the book, the new author explained that she tried to portray her entrepreneurial journey in the last 14 years, her challenges, gains and way forward for the manufacturing industry.