Charles Ugwuh

Name: Charles Ugwuh
Ministry: Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Position: Honourable Minister

1) Give us an introduction to your ministry’s strategy in the non-oil sector?

In the area of manufacturing we are looking at a new strategy based on the concept of clustering – developing what we call industrial parks, industrial clusters, enterprise zones, incubators and then free trade zones. This came from the realisation that because of Nigeria’s size, it will be very difficult to provide adequate infrastructure across the whole country in the near future. Therefore, in order to grow the economy, our strategy is to limit our activities to specific points which can form the basis for growth.

2) Tell us more about the free trade zones.

Free trade zones are located on our coastline or near areas with an international airport. The idea is to enable a company to bring in materials and to do business in Nigeria as if you were in a foreign territory – free from duties, taxes and frustrations that can hamper the growth of your company. For example, the free trade zone in Onne targets the oil industry and has grown rapidly. The area will eventually become a hub for petrochemical companies.

3) Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have been indentified as a way to ensure economic growth and to move the country forward. What are the incentives and policies the government has put in place in order to ensure the realisation of PPP and to attract foreign investment?

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) is incidentally a parastatal under this ministry and it has a booklet of incentives, policies and what have you for foreign investors to come and invest in a conducive and favourable business environment. The ministry itself has gone out to study and look at what other countries have done in this regard. We have gone to countries such as South Africa and China to determine what they are doing and how we can apply their strategies into our own environment.

4) One of the problems investors may face when they come to Nigeria is excessive bureaucracy and bottlenecks. To what extent has the creation of the NIPC and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) helped to tackle this problem?

A whole lot has been happening. If you go to the NIPC, they have what they call a one stop investment centre). You can register your business in Nigeria within 24 hours if you have the right papers. Sometimes, due to an already formed notion, it appears as if nothing is happening but I tell you a lot is happening.

5) Industrialisation plays a pivotal role when it comes to the realisation of President Yar’Adua’s seven point agenda and Vision 2020. Could you please comment on this?

Industrialisation is the key to wealth creation, poverty alleviation and employment generation, no matter how you look at it. I think it was the president of Malaysia who said the whole thing happening in the capital market is gambling, you just have to produce. No matter what the situation is, if you are producing you have an advantage. The other day we were told that the Chinese trade surplus for one month was over a billion dollars, simply because they are producing.

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