30% value addition bill could create 1.2m jobs — RMRDC

The Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, has projected that the proposed 30 per cent mandatory value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export could generate more than 1.2 million skilled jobs within five years.

The council said the proposed measure would also promote import substitution, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen local manufacturing.

Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, disclosed this in Abuja at a briefing ahead of the second Africa Raw Materials Summit, ARMS 2026.

The summit, scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, has as its theme, “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Ike-Muonso noted that the proposed Raw Materials 30% Mandatory Value Addition Bill seeks to establish a statutory minimum of 30 per cent domestic value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export. He said the bill was awaiting presidential assent.

According to RMRDC, the projected job creation is one of the expected benefits of implementing the proposed legislation, which forms part of efforts to shift Nigeria from exporting low-value primary commodities to higher-value industrial production.

The council also urged Nigeria to process its over $582.4 billion worth of documented non-renewable natural resources locally to boost manufacturing and create additional economic opportunities.

Ike-Muonso said Africa must move away from the “pit-to-port” model, in which raw materials are exported while finished products are imported at higher costs.

“What is extracted from African soil must increasingly be transformed on African soil,” he said.

He said ARMS 2026 would attract more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries, alongside investors, manufacturers, technology companies and other industrial stakeholders.

The summit will focus on logistics and infrastructure, policy and value addition, circular economy and waste industrialisation, AfCFTA regional value chains, and technology commercialisation and capital linkage.

“Nigeria alone had more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while other African countries also possessed substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural commodities and industrial feedstock.

“Local

processing would create jobs, strengthen manufacturing and reduce Africa’s vulnerability to fluctuations in international commodity prices,” he stated.