BoI urges patronage of home-made goods

To sustain growth recorded in the industrial sector and promote development spending, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has advocated patronage of locally manufactured goods, especially goods with high local content.

Indeed, the Bank as part of its commitment to the manufacturing sector, also reaffirmed its objective to increase developmental financing to the real sector and enhance capacities of local production firms to drive economic growth.

Acting Managing Director of BoI, Waheed Olagunju, stressed that the panacea to the country’s present challenges is hinged on improved industrialisation of its economy.

He said that the bank would spur economic activities in the manufacturing sector through its lending channels to various clusters identified by the Bank, as well as help save to save foreign exchange spent on importing goods that the nation has capacity to produce.

Olagunju, who was represented by the Bank’s Divisional Head, Large Enterprises, Joseph Babatunde said this during a facility tour of Proforce Ltd., an armoured vehicle manufacturing company at Ogun State.

He said that the tour of the company has shown that a Nigerian company could acquire modern defence technology expertise to produce world class products.

“We feel much fulfilled. We funded the company and the facility has been well utilised. The company has succeeded in developing domestic capacity for the production of armoured vehicles by acquiring modern technology from all over the world to make military grade defence vehicles.

“Lagos State, the Nigerian military and Police are major stakeholders that patronise the company but we can do better. We are creating more awareness for patronage of locally made products. So many people are buying into the scheme as it is becoming difficult to import. This will help us to save our foreign exchange”, he added.

On his part, Managing Director of Proforce Ltd, Adetokunbo Ogundeyin, commended the bank for improving access to the facility, noting that its operations wouldn’t have grown without funding from the bank.

He also commended the Inspector General of Police for his visit and support for local manufacturers.

He said: “We need to promote the manufacturing of armoured vehicles that are locally produced. Through our operations, we are adding value to the Nigerian economy in terms of employment, technology transfer initiatives, foreign exchange earnings and local content promotion”.

Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotum Idris said: “To be honest with you, I have seen first-hand what Nigerians can offer with the right support. Here, you can see local content development in practice.

“I think it’s a great achievement for us as a country when we start venturing into presumed impossible feats and turning them into possibilities.

“Technologically, Nigerians have the know-how and capacity to compete with the best when it comes to manufacturing.

“It’s an advantage to us when we see avenues such as these we can exploit to bridge the gap of development and unemployment.

“For the police, we will continue to support such ventures by exploring local content opportunities of improving the force’s ability to address security issues and create employment”.