Business Briefs
THE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has expressed concern over lack of patronage of locally-produced goods in Nigeria. The chamber regretted that despite government being the highest spenders in the country, they still find it difficult to patronise locally-made goods.
Babatunde Ruwase, president, LCCI, said locally-produced goods are still being faced with myriads of challenges such as high cost of bringing in raw materials and harsh operating business environment. At the inauguration of the Printing, Publishing and Allied, PPA, group in Lagos, Ruwase said with the inauguration, the chamber would be able to focus more on issues hindering growth of the sector.
“We have some facilities in Nigeria which have all gone moribund. We will also seek ways on how the federal government will patronise local publishing and printing companies. It is also like a focus group that will focus on challenges affecting the sector. The government must have local publishing and printing companies as the first choice when doing business. If we can get government to patronise publishing and printing companies, it will be better for the sector and the economy at large,” he said.
Citing statistics from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Ruwase said the size of the printing and publishing sector was valued at N20 billion in 2018. The sector is one of the fast-growing sectors in Nigeria, with a Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth rate of about six percent and 0.03 percent in 2018.
“In response to the importance and performance of this sector, the chamber decided to create this group and we are very happy to identify with all the members of this vibrant group today,” he said.
– Mar. 1, 2019 @ 17:39 GMT |
Tags: LCCI seeks Improved Patronage of Local Products
