Nigeria urged to leverage global crisis for local capacity devt

With the disruption from the ongoing war in Eastern Europe, CEO of DECHEMA Ausstellungs-GmbH, Dr Thomas Scheuring, has urged Nigeria to take advantage of the vacuum to attain global economic relevance.

Scheuring noted that the Nigerian government should leverage on its rich petrochemical industry by developing the sector to the refining stage as selling crude oil is no longer sufficient in recent times.

This was disclosed at the press briefing in Lagos organised by the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK Nigeria) at ACHEMA Trade Fair 2022.

Organiser, ACHEMA Trade Fair, Dr Thomas Scheuring said, “against this background, and also in the context of current geopolitical turbulences, it is even more essential for us to reach out to new destinations, which is why this time we are holding, in close cooperation with the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK Nigeria), our first-ever press conference in Lagos. We consider Nigeria an increasingly important market and hub for the process industries.”

ACHEMA, which is the global forum for the process industries, would be held on August 22 to 26 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Speaking on current ecological challenges, Scheuring emphasised the need for a green economy, as climate change is something that can’t be ignored.

He added that carbon footprint should be reduced, as ACHEMA would contribute to decarbonisation and fossilisation of chemical processes.

He noted another major challenge as digitalisation, stating the need to get all industrial processes to become more efficient.

According to him, since ACHEMA is a melting point for pharmaceutical technology, Nigeria’s participation would help develop the sector as the country already hosts 60 per cent of all pharmaceutical production capacity in Africa.