Vice President Kashim Shettima has charged Nigeria and the rest of Africa to take their rightful place in the control of global resources and trade by taking advantage of the continent’s abundant natural endowments.

Speaking over the weekend in Cotonou, when he led some Nigerian governors on an assessment tour of the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in the Republic of Benin, Shettima noted that this can only be possible if African nations brace themselves to harness the resources and maximise the continent’s potential.

A 1,640-hectare public-private industrial platform developed by the Beninese Government and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, the zone accommodates textile, garment, cashew, soybean and other manufacturing operations, and provides over 25,000 jobs. Production at the site began in 2021.

For Nigeria, Shettima assured that if Bola Tinubu remains president, no region will be left behind in the renewed industrialisation drive. He stated that this administration, in collaboration with the subnational governments, has resolved to leave no stone unturned in massively developing Nigeria.

Expressing satisfaction with the efforts of the Beninese Government to embark on mass production and export of the country’s endowed resources, he regretted that, of the $370 billion worth of global cotton, Africa benefits from only about one per cent.

Shettima said after touring the cotton, textile, cashew and soyabean oil production units at the industrial zone that reviving Nigeria’s textile value chain could generate millions of jobs, expand non-oil exports and stimulate economic activities across the country. He assured that Nigeria will set up agro-industrial zones in eight states.

“This is an African success story where there is a whole chain of value addition in cotton, cashew and soya bean value chains,” he remarked.

“Be assured that we have learnt a lot of lessons through this visit and we are going to replicate a lot of that in Nigeria, as we are focused on becoming one of the industrialised nations in the world.”

In the delegation were governors AbdulRahmanAbdulRazak (Kwara), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Umar Namada (Jigawa), Umaru Radda (Katsina), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara).

They all expressed readiness to explore similar industrial projects in their respective states, noting that the opportunities for public-private partnerships, youth employment, technology transfer and stronger linkage between farmers and manufacturers remain evident potentials.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian delegation was briefed on the industrial zone’s structure, production capacity and investment potential by Benin’s Minister of Tourism and Foreign Trade, who is in charge of Industry and the Promotion of Private Investment, Olushegun Bakari.

Meanwhile, the governors said the GDIZ model demonstrated how deliberate government policy, reliable infrastructure and private-sector investment could link farmers to processors, reduce the export of raw commodities and create jobs across agricultural and manufacturing value chains.

Among them, Governor AbdulRazaq explained that the visit was an African peer-learning mission intended to help Nigerian states avoid costly mistakes and adopt tested industrial practices.

According to him, “Nigeria is on the verge of developing industrial processing zones across the federation. We previously visited Ethiopia to study what they had done, and we are now in Benin Republic to learn from both the challenges and the successes of this industrial zone.

“We have examined the cotton, cashew and soybean value chains. What we have seen has been a tremendous success, and we will take these lessons back to Nigeria as we implement our own projects.”

He further stated that the participating states were working with the federal government and development partners, including the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development, to provide the required infrastructure for the zones.