Stakeholders, including the Director General, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Antonia Simbine; Chairman, Spectra Industries Limited, Duro Kuteyi; Associate Professor, Foluso Adeyinka; Dr. Rasaki Stephen Dauda of the Economics Department, Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State, among others, yesterday, said the Nigerian State must take proactive measures to move its industrial sector to a competitive international market.
They also identified three strands of learning enablers, namely: export financing, knowledge of international political economy (IPE) features, and Standards, Regulations and Inspection (SRI) regimes, as factors that must be adequately engender to influence entry into international markets by the nation’s industrial sector.
In different presentations at the NISER’s seminar series entitled: ‘Towards the competitiveness of Nigeria’s Industrial Sector: The role of Learning Enablers,’ organised by the institute in Ibadan, to investigate what it would cost Nigeria industrial sector to compete in international markets, Adeyinka said firms that are innovative and with previous high productivity learn to export and they self-select to enter the export market.
She said: “Such firms remained in the export market due to their ability to absorb additional costs associated with exports.”
In her address, Simbine said that in a rapidly evolving global landscape, the industrial sector represents the cornerstone upon which sustainable progress is built, given the sector’s high potentials for employment, innovation, and for contributing to a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
She said unlocking the full potential of the nation’s industrial sector requires a multifaceted approach and concerted efforts from policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, educators, and the broader society, adding that it requires the identification and nurturing of the learning enablers that foster innovation, adaptability, and competitiveness.
In his presentation, Chairman of the event, Kuteyi, emphasised the significance of the industrial sector to development, just as he pointed out the challenges facing the sector.
He said: “Nigerian industries are facing difficult times, fuelled by internal hardships and the lack of global competitiveness. A conducive environment is needed, much more than enabling laws, physical infrastructure, and tax relief. It has more to do with the quality of inputs in terms of social and financial infrastructure.”
