Nigeria needs more industrial parks and clusters in order to grow its economy, the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority has said.
The Managing Director, NEPAZ, Mr. Gbenga Kuye, said this during a visit to the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base in Apapa.
He said, “NEPAZ is responsible for the regulation of free zones in the country. I am impressed with what I have seen; LADOL has earned the title of an industrial park, not just an FTZ.
“We are moving from just creating free zones to industrial parks and clusters, where certain objectives can be achieved like acquiring skills and technologies that will help grow the economy and create jobs.”
Kuye said it was necessary to domesticate the fabrication and manufacturing being done by expatriates in the FTZ that normally could not be done in the country.
He said NEPAZ was conscious of technology transfers and called on LADOL to create a technical college to train Nigerians who would in turn pass on their skills to more Nigerians.
He also praised the LADOL management for its dedication and commitment to making Nigeria the hub of oil and gas and maritime activities in West Africa.
“Through these means, direct, indirect and induced jobs will be created. We want a situation where we can say the industrial parks and the FTZ in Nigeria are contributing a certain amount to the Gross Domestic Product.
“Nigerians should also take advantage of the opportunities that they are given because the FPSOs are not built everyday,” Kuye said.
Earlier, the Managing Director of LADOL, Dr. Amy Jadesimi, had said that about 70 per cent of fabrication projects could be domesticated at LADOL.
She said, “Our location enables us to accommodate large vessels and to assemble pieces that can be manufactured all over the country.
“We have proved that you can economically repair a faulty rig in Nigeria. That makes us the hub for rig repairs in West Africa. All the shipyards in the country will have increase in demand because of LADOL’s facilities.”
She called for increased local collaboration between private sector actors and the public, adding that the key to Nigeria’s success now from the LADOL’s perspective depended on local collaboration.
“In South Korea, the private sector companies collaborate; that is what makes South Korea great. If we do these little things, we will be going into the G20 in a much quicker time than the world expects us to,” Jadesimi said.
She added that LADOL had developed a cashless, paperless system in partnership with the United States Trade and Development Agency.
The new IT system enables everything to be done electronically, which increases the efficiency and accuracy of LADOL’s work and lowers cost, according to her.
Jadesimi listed some of LADOL’S completed facilities to include its Samsung Joint Venture integration and fabrication facility and pipe crating facility.
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