FG Targets $30bn Annually From ‘MINE’ Project

The Federal Government has signed an agreement with investors on a project tagged: Made in Nigeria for Exports (MINE), to generate $30 billion from exports annually.

The signing of the agreement was done by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the Africa Export and Import Bank (AFREXIM), Mr. Kayode Pitan, Managing Director of Bank of Industry (BoI), and Mr. Uche Orji, Managing Director of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

The signing ceremony was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the council chambers of the presidential villa, Abuja, on Friday.

The project has designated three places in different parts of the country as Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for the take-off of the project. The three places are Enyimba Economic City in Abia State, Funtua Cotton Cluster in Katsina State and Lekki Model Industrial Park in Lagos State.

Speaking during the ceremony, President Buhari said MINE was conceived to position Nigeria as the manufacturing hub in Sub-Saharan Africa and a major exporter of made in Nigeria products to the West African sub-region, the entire Africa and the entire World.

He said the SEZ project had been championed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelahmah, under his direct supervision.

“Under my direct supervision, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment is implementing Project MINE – Made in Nigeria for Exports – as a presidential special priority intervention using Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to achieve the objectives of boosting manufacturing’s share of GDP to 20 per cent, generating $30bn in annual export earnings; and creating 1.5 million new jobs all by 2025,” Buhari said.