The United Nations has ranked Nigeria as 8th on the African Industrialisation Index and 98th in the world.

Thematic Lead for Oil and Gas at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG),

Kelvin Emmanuel, stated this in his presentation at a high-level pre-Summit dialogue held in Abuja with the theme, “Unlocking Industrial Growth Series: The Evolving Oil and Gas Ecosystem.”

He lamented that Nigeria still lags behind in global ranking for competitive industries performance adding that there is a need to make industries more competitive especially in the oil and gas sector.

“Nigeria still lags behind other African countries in industrial development.

“The country is ranked 8th on the African Industrialisation Index and 98th in the world on the UN’s Competitive Industrial Performance Index.

“Nigeria’s manufacturing value per person is just $216, compared to $645 in South Africa and $524 in Egypt,” he declared.

Emmanuel explained that instead of helping the country grow its industries, Nigeria’s oil wealth has mostly supported a system where crude oil is extracted and exported without much local processing.

He said that the trend needs to change and called for proper implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and better alignment with Africa’s Agenda 2063.

In her contribution, a legal expert and Co-Lead on Mining at the NESG Industrial Policy Commission, Ms. Laura Ani, said Nigeria is at a turning point, and urged the government to stop seeing oil and gas only as a source of government revenue.

Also speaking, Engr. Mansur Ahmed, who serves as the Private Sector co-Chair of the NESG Industrial Policy Commission, said the ongoing reforms in Nigeria provide a chance to rethink how the oil and gas industry can support long-term development and help the country move closer to building a strong industrial base. (Vanguard)