- P&G to Source Raw Materials Locally
Manufacturing firm, Procter and Gamble Nigeria, says it has started assessing the capability of local businesses and seeking their participation in strengthening its raw material localisation objectives in line with the backward integration programme of the Federal Government.
The firm recently engaged select local raw material suppliers in the country in an interactive session with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and representatives of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
This, the firm said, was coming on the heels of the recent inauguration of its Nigeria’s Always Production Line in June, where it reiterated its commitment to investing in Nigeria and supporting the government’s diversification efforts.
The Managing Director, Procter and Gamble Nigeria, George Nassar, commended the Federal Government’s gesture towards engaging local businesses.
He said, “We praise the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment for its willingness to engage local suppliers and assess the capability of its businesses. That, on its own, is very encouraging and we believe today’s meeting is pivotal to accelerating our local sourcing projects.
“The P&G Nigeria currently procures 100 per cent of the packaging materials for its products locally and is working towards increasing the local sourcing of the raw materials we use. We will continue to partner the government in our quest to achieve this. The P&G is committed to doing business with more locally-owned businesses and we appreciate the role the Federal Government is playing towards improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria and as a business will continue to foster a strong partnership with them to boost this effort.”
He also charged the Federal Government to continue its efforts towards enabling local entrepreneurship development and helping them with the capability required to produce raw materials locally, adding that this would go a long way in actualising its economic development agenda.
The Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for Procter & Gamble Africa Operations, Temitope Iluyemi, said backward integration was essential to the growth of the Nigerian economy, adding that the firm’s aim was to manufacture as close as possible to its consumers and encourage its global partners to do the same, thereby promoting technology transfer.
“We will work to pre-qualify local suppliers for materials used in the production of consumer packaged products and, by extension, build capability of local manufacturers to compete effectively in regional value chains and further strengthen the diversification efforts of the Nigerian government,” Iluyemi said.
The Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Francis Alaneme, said it had become important to increase the local sourcing of raw materials in the country and create opportunities to promote growth and provide a platform for cross-sharing and capability building.
