NEXIM TO SUPPORT NIBRA TO AUTOMATE SHOEMAKING IN ABA
The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) says it will support NIBRA Designs Limited, a shoe production initiative that intends to establish an automotive shoe production line in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia state.
Abubakar Bello, managing director, NEXIM Bank, who revealed this at the ground-breaking ceremony of NIBRA Leather City Park, situated at Ogbuaku in Ukwa West local government area of Abia state, explained that the bank would invest in the importation or manufacturing/local fabrication of machines that would make footwear production effective.
Bello explained that NEXIIM wanted to create a leather works cluster that would be marked for excellence in Nigeria, starting from Aba. “We’ve seen the potentials in the leather sector of the economy and this has been further enhanced, by the National Leather Policy that the government recently established. What we want to do is to create a cluster and excellence in leather production in Nigeria. And we recognised that Aba was the place to start it from. So, when NIBRA came, we naturally and immediately keyed into it.
“Our intervention is going to be in two parts; first, is going to be direct to major investments that are coming and we are discussing how we will effectively do that. But there’s also a second part, where the stakeholders that are already in this industry, will benefit from us.
“At the National Economic Council, we made a presentation on state export development fund, where we intend to lend out as much as N1 billion to MSMEs and we have seen where we are going to inject Abia state’s own.
“Now with the capacity we believe will be created, we will invest in technology and processing in various clusters. We were in the market this morning and identified that most of the processes are manual. So, we also have the facilities in clusters like this. We can finance the importation or manufacturing/local fabrication of machine that will make their production effective.
“By the grace of God, we are in partnership with NIBRA, the state and all other entrepreneurs, because the whole ecosystem is going to be built around it and NEXIM is here to support it and we are hundred percent behind you”.
NIBRA shoe factory will be the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging world class Brazilian technology. The NIBRA facility will launch with an initial capacity of 10,000 pairs per day, growing to 100,000 in 5 years.
The project is scheduled to be commissioned, by the fourth quarter of 2019 and NIBRA will employ 1,000 people for a start, growing to over 5,000 in the medium term.
Under secured off-take arrangements for 100 percent of its initial installed capacity, NIBRA will serve domestic and international markets. Leather City on the other hand, will provide opportunities to increase productivity and product quality for a significant number of the 120,000 individuals currently in Aba.
For private enterprises, Leather City will offer infrastructure as a shared service and skills development training to the growing population of Nigerian entrepreneurs in the leather and related goods space.
This will form part of a broader strategy to leverage the National Leather Policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria and develop the local supply chain to reduce dependence on imports as stakeholders improve the perception of made in Nigeria products.
Source: Orient Daily