JICA, PAPA train 35 productivity consultants on improvement strategies

The Pan African Productivity Association (PAPA) in collaboration with Japan Productivity Centre (JPC), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has trained 35 Nigerian productivity consultants on productivity improvement techniques. 

The Director General of the National Productivity Centre, (NPC), Dr, Kashim Akor, who disclosed this in Abuja, explained that PAPA provides platform for broadening productivity issues and bringing them to national discourses across Africa, as well as also highlights the critical relevance of productivity to the economic development and growth globally. 

He added that PAPA also ensures a peer review mechanism among member countries, adding, “We collaborate and network in terms of programming, project implementation, share ideas and knowledge on how to promote productivity in our countries.”

Akor stressed that being a member of PAPA affords Nigeria, the opportunity of benefitting from international development partners, particularly the JPC, JICA and other international bodies. 

“Most of these bodies like to partner with continental organisations rather than individual countries. So, using the instrumentality of PAPA membership, we have been able to train consultants without the Federal Government spending money on the training,” he said. 

Akor, who is a Board member of PAPA hinted that the continental organisation has an understanding with the government of Japan to train productivity officers once every year.

He explained: “Luckily for us as members of PAPA, Nigeria is a beneficiary of this training. I can proudly say that the NPC has internationally trained productivity consultants. As a board member of PAPA, I have the privilege to be a part of the inner workings of the organisation and also a part of the management that would have first-hand knowledge of all the happenings, as well as be in a position to attract opportunities to Nigeria.”

While urging stakeholders to embrace productivity for the benefit of the economy, the NPC boss stressed that productivity is everybody’s business.

He added: “As a centre, we cannot do all that is required to boost the productivity level of Nigerians. We need collaboration, partnerships and cooperation of organisations that can work with us to achieve the aim. So, the centre believes that we can leverage our relationship with organisations such as the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), which has members across most sectors of the economy to advance productivity advocacy.

In a way, we have established relationship with them. We equally have a close relationship with the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of which we are a member. In all, we leverage these relationships to advance our productivity improvement promotion drive.”