NASENI Targets 25% Reduction in Import Bill by 2030

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has projected a reduction in import bill by 25 per cent to $34.7bn by 2030.

The agency said it would achieve this by forming partnerships to locally manufacture top 10 items in the country.

NASENI is also projected to generate over three million jobs in the same year through focused technology knowledge transfer to over 300,000 small and medium enterprises and to lift 2.5 million people out of poverty in five years.

These were contained in a document presented to the media by the Executive Vice-Chairman of NASENI, Khalil Halilu, on Wednesday.

The projections are the expected outcome of technology transfer to the country’s economy.

Halilu said Nigeria’s import had risen by 66 per cent in the last four years to $60.5bn, adding that 10 import item categories contributed 77 per cent of the total import bill, while SMEs contributed only 6.21 per cent to exports.

“Nigeria has experienced limited economic growth due to low industrial and technological productivity,” he said.

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Consequently, Halilu said the solution was the rapid transfer of technology, which he explained will accelerate economic growth through technology transfer and adaptation to critical sectors.

He added that the transfer of technology will cut down go-to-market time by 75 per cent, reducing total production time from three years to between six months and one year.

Halilu also said NASENI and the Rural Electrification Agency had reached an agreement to deploy renewable energy technologies, particularly NASENI’s solar resources, to illuminate rural areas in Nigeria, adding that the agency had also attracted $150m investment for a battery factory from the UAE.

He added that his agency has reached out to the police and state governments to provide their broken-down trucks and tractors for rehabilitation.

The initiative, according to Halilu, would save the nation billions of naira annually on vehicle purchases.

“The police have indicated interest in the initiative. The idea is to repair the broken down vehicles, and NASENI will take 20 per cent of the repaired vehicles.

”We are also targeting 55,000 broken down tractors belonging to state governments. Eighty per cent of the repaired tractors would be put into use by the governments, while NASENI would take 20 per cent of the repaired tractors, which would be sold to farmers”, he said.