Segun Awolowo

segun awolowo is the grandson of Chief obafemi awolowo, one of nigeria’s great founding fathers. his grandfather left him very big shoes to fill. some men might have found that a challenging task in itself but segun, like his grandfather before him, keeps making strides to impact positively in the growth of the nigerian economy. Though he has not served from a politically elective post, he has played key roles in certain sectors in various governments with his latest one being the Chief executive officer of the nigerian export promotion Council (nepC). nepC is nigeria’s apex organization for the development and promotion of non-oil exports to diversify the nation’s economy. segun’s goal is to shift the focus from export of raw produce to value added products to increase revenue, value for the products, create jobs and improve lives. prior to nepC, awolowo served in various positions in Chief olusegun obasanjo’s administration as special assistant on Traditional institutions (2003); special assistant on legal Due Diligence with the Budget Monitoring and price intelligence Unit (BMpiU) 2005, and as special assistant legal Matters during which he covered a wide range of legal issues for the president including drafting of bills for passage to the national assembly. segun also worked in the Federal Capital Territory administration (FCTa) from 2007 as secretary for social Development and later in 2008 as secretary of Transport, where he played a significant role in evolving a Master plan for an efficient urban transportation system in the FCT. he worked there till 2011 before going back to his law practice. in 2013, president goodluck Jonathan gCFr appointed him to his present position, which he still holds. awolowo’s experience at the highest level of the nigerian government has exposed him to national policy making at the highest levels across the country and abroad. he has built a solid base of friendship over the years, which cuts across regional, ethnic and international lines. segun is happily married to Bola and they are blessed with three lovely children. he spent an afternoon with style Correspondent, aYoDeJi roTinWa regaling him on the various benefits of non-oil products and working in the public service. a few weeks ago at the grand finale of african Fashion Week nigeria, you said that government must invest more in the fashion/ textile industry to solve the rate of unemployment in the country, that the country’s goal is “to position the manufacturing industry as a viable sector for boosting the non-oil export sector so as to increase its economic growth. “has this investment started? have actions been taken to realize this goal? if so, what are they? if not, how come? What are the challenges that have hindered the government in backing this often repeated statement with action?

the fashion industry is a very important sector with a large potential to turn-around and sustain nigeria’s economy particularly in terms of employment, inclusive growth and the generation of foreign exchange. investment in the textiles, garment and apparels sector has been an ongoing project in nigeria for some time. as far back as 2009 the federal government instituted a n100bn textile Revival fund. later the CBn put in place an additional n50bn to facilitate the takeover of existing debt as well as offer additional long-term loans and working capital to existing companies in the cotton, textile and garment sector.

On our part at nePC, we continue to work in partnership with the private sector organizations and relevant international agencies such as usaid and unidO to build national capacity for this important sector. Our intervention in the fashion sector has also been targeted at improving production capabilities. some specific interventions include: • Rehabilitation of the Human Capital Development Centre in lagos to enhance capacity building for the industry. we were able to graduate our first batch of participants in november 2016 and all graduates were offered employment shortly thereafter. • Strategic partnership with private sector (Style House

files) on capacity development. • Collaboration with UNIDO on production and skills

capacity development. • Collaboration with State governments in building Common facility Centres as a basis to attract investment to the industry. • Collaboration with BOI to help the industry access N1Bn

fashion fund. can the results of a well functioning manufacturing industry with regards to textile, contribute significantly to nigeria’s exports? china for instance, is the world’s largest exporter of clothes, textiles, earning 110 billion dollars and owing 34.6% of global market share in 2015. can nigeria aspire to being a top global exporter of textiles given we are resource-rich in manpower?

globally, the fashion industry is worth approximately us$3trillion and accounts for 2% of the world’s gross domestic Product (gdP). there is no doubt that an optimal manufacturing textile industry in nigeria would definitely contribute to nigerian exports as the sector also has the

The fashion industry is a very important sector with a large potential to turn-around and sustain nigeria’s economy, particularly in terms of employment, inclusive growth and the generation of foreign exchange.

ability to leverage on nigeria’s agricultural advantages, such as the strengths of our cotton and yarn sectors. with an average age of 18.6 years, our young and teeming population is another advantage when operating in the fashion/textile sector. the energy, enthusiasm and creativity of nigerian youth is an asset that can be leveraged on to drive and re-position our economy through the textile industry. though we have yet to perform at our optimal level, incremental progress is being made.

if all necessary resources are properly harnessed in the industry along with the requisite application of technology, skills and an enabling business and investment environment, nigeria can become one of the highest exporters of textiles and apparels in the world. Would you agree though that we are resource-poor in political will? no, i do not believe nigeria is a nation that is resource poor in any sense of the word. though we have suffered from policy inconsistency in the past, which has had a tremendous affect on long-term business and investment considerations, things have begun to change. though President Buhari’s administration has been dedicated to bringing much needed reform into nigeria’s political and economic landscape, a great example is the recently launched nigerian economic Recovery and growth Plan, the present administration has also been dedicated to bringing stability and continuation to nigeria’s political and economic landscape. no policy can be fully realized within one or two political terms. economic transformation required a long-term approach and this is something the government has realized.

the neRgP is comprised of initiatives such as the nigerian industrial Revolution Plan (niRP), which was released in january 2014, and the national enterprise development Program (nedeP). even the agriculture Promotion Policies of the federal ministry of agriculture and Rural development have seen a continuation in their development. the green alternative, launched in 2016 builds upon and implements the agricultural transformation agenda, launched by the preceding administration. By implementing plans and policies already on ground, rather than starting anew, nigeria is able to show the world our dedication to reform and seeing our economy bounce back more diversified and resilient than ever. of all nigeria’s non-oil exports, which has the most potential to truly contribute to the diversification of the economy. Why do you think it has the most potential and just how much of a significant production might the product or class of products make in terms of figures and statistics?

nigeria’s non-oil export sectors have enormous potential to replace oil as a key source of income. after all, nigeria’s comparative advantage lies outside the oil and gas sector. nigeria is a country blessed with 44 different solid minerals in commercial quantity. we have the 7th largest gas reserves in the world. Over 90% of our total land size is arable and we have a young and capable workforce with over 70% of our population under the age of 30. we are strategically placed in the eCOwas region to be able to reach a market of over 300million people.

it is with this realization that the Council identified new non-oil export sectors where the country can earn 40-50% of what was earned by oil in the past. Our ‘zero Oil’ plan is nigeria’s first attempt at a coherent agenda to mobilize public and private resources towards replacing oil as our #1 source of foreign exchange. the objective of the ‘zero Oil’ plan is to replace Oil as the major national foreign exchange earner, by growing non-oil exports from today’s us$2.7 billion to us$8 billion by 2019 and eventually us$25 billion by 2025.

at the core of the ‘zero Oil’ plan is the need to identify key export sectors that nigeria can tap into to replace crude oil revenues. we have three major criteria for selecting product categories: 1) the financial value of the sector in

international trade is important and we are targeting products with an annual value of us$20 billion and above, 2) the relative ease of operating in the sector which will include a consideration for size of investments; level of technology needed; and the complexity of the product supply chain and 3) the comparative advantage within nigeria.

Over the next 10 years nigeria will attempt to gain market share in the following national strategic export Products (nsePs): Petrochemicals (worth us$150billion), soybeans & derivatives (worth us$100billion), sugar (worth us$60billion), Cotton & yam (worth us$40billion), fertilizers & ammonia (worth us$40billion), Palm Oil (worth us$35billion), Rice (worth us$25billion), Rubber (worth $25billion), hides & leather (worth us$20billion), Cocoa (worth us$20billion) and gold (worth us$400billion). you have previously expressed that your leadership goal is to shift nigeria’s focus from export of raw produce to value added products. What are these value added products? how has this shift being executed thus far?

you are correct, another goal of the “zero Oil” plan is to diversify nigeria’s export base from raw materials to value added products. value-added products are defined as a change to the physical state or form of a product, such as milling wheat into flour or making strawberries into jam. Particularly in the case of agriculture, value addition means products attracting a more premium price in international markets.

Of the 11 zero Oil Plan nsePs, 9 are agro industrial products. all these products have derivatives, which nigeria can take advantage of before exporting. for example, Palm for instance has nearly 100 by-products from food and beverage to household items, furniture, and animal feed and even biodiesel. Countries such has malaysia and indonesia have been able to take advantage of the full palm value chain and nigeria can do the same, across multiple sectors.

value-addition to primary agricultural commodities prior to export will significantly increase our potential non-oil export earnings. it is estimated that through value-addition, export earnings on a product can increase between 250300% more than earnings on the raw commodity. valueaddition also creates more jobs, helps stimulate the economy and reduces our massive dependence on imported goods. What are the most urgent challenges in your line of work, in the development, promotion of non-oil exports?

the challenges faced by nePC when trying to promote and encourage our non-oil export growth are the same as those facing our nigerian businesses every day. funding and inadequate access to finance is a major barrier for exporters in nigeria. this is an important area where our growing collaboration with other nigerian intuitions, such as nexim, the nigerian investment Promotion Commission (niPC) and the Bank of industry (BOi) is crucial. nigerian exporters require improved financial support. we continually liaise with commercial banks on the importance of supporting our exporters, which more and more are beginning to do. under our export development &incentives department, the council also has a unit dedicated to sourcing and liaising with financial institutions to provide our msmes with the adequate resources they need to grow and thrive.

there are other inhibitions including (and not limited to) infrastructural deficits like power, water and poor roads. Our producers also suffer from weak logistics and support supply chain linkages as well as poor quality standardization of products (labeling & packaging).

to address these challenges, the Council regularly holds capacity building workshops and trainings throughout the country. the federal government is also working towards improving the business environment as part of the Presidential enabling Business environment Council under the Chairmanship of the vice President Professor yemi Osinbajo. nePC is one of the technical agencies present in this committee. how would you rate the success thus far of the adoption of Made-in-nigeria productions, locally in terms of production? What incentives are in place to ensure more goods are produced locally? the campaign for use of made-in-nigeria is receiving serious attention especially under the present administration of President muhammadu Buhari. the initiative has gained good traction and there seems to be a growing visible consciousness among nigerians to patronise our made-innigeria goods. the banning of 41 products from access to forex was meant to discourage the importation of goods readily found in nigeria while helping to boost the growth of our local industries and i believe this goal has been achieved.

at nePC, we take pride in promoting made-in-nigeria products across the world. Our vision is to make the world a marketplace for nigerian non-oil products and our various incentives are tasked at doing just that. Our best-known incentive is perhaps the export expansion grant (eeg), which is an incentive support scheme for exporters after the remittance of proceeds of exports through the CBn. this incentive is statutorily administered by nePC on behalf of the federal government. there is also the export development fund (edf) which is also included as part of the neRgP. the edf is a pre-shipment incentive to support our msmes that may not have the capacity to fully take on export business on their own. this incentive is also statutorily administered by nePC on behalf of the federal government. What is the potential of the arts/culture sector to contribute significantly to nigeria’s non-oil exports: music, film, visual art, and tourism?

nigeria is one of the largest and most geographically, socially and culturally diverse countries in the world. with over 500 languages spoken, our six geopolitical zones each have their own unique identity and history. additionally, our varied arts and crafts are already widely admired in different parts of the world and prior to the industrial Revolution; artisans were the dominant producers of consumer products. all this leads me to believe nigeria’s creative industry has enormous potentials.

at the Council we have made several interventions in the promotion of nigeria’s artisanal talent (musicians, comedians, dancers, performers, etc.). these include capacity building programs for operators in the sector in collaboration with usaid/nextt. we have also been working in partnership with the west african trade hub (wath) to develop the sector for export by assessing nigerian Companies to ascertain their readiness for export and also assist them with international markets Opportunities into the usa under agOa. the Council also spearheads the participation of artisans at international expos, exhibitions and Conferences such as the munich home and handicraft fairs in germany and artisanal events in france, Portugal, Burkina faso, usa, Brazil and many more.

Perhaps the best example of what can happen with nigerian arts and culture can be found in our country’s entertainment industry. in collaboration with the Commonwealth secretariat, nePC identified nollywood as one of the service sectors with the greatest potential to attract investment, increase exports and create employment opportunities throughout the country. nollywood (the nigerian film industry) is the third most valuable film industry in the world, producing up to 1,500 films annually. in 2010 the world Bank identified nollywood as a leading non-oil sector in nigeria. the average nollywood film costs between us$17,000 $23,000 but they can sell up to 200,000 units nationwide in one single day. this is despite poor infrastructure and limited government support. with adequate support and management, nollywood has the potential to employ 1,000,000 more nigerians in the coming years. having worked at the highest levels of government for more than a decade now, what would you say is the biggest lesson Public service has taught you?

my work in Public service has exposed me to people from all walks of life across different races, cultures and backgrounds. my experience has actually helped me build very good human relations and added to my ability to stretch my patience when issues are on the burner. Public service has also taught me understanding. nigeria is a complicated country and although we have challenges, the men and women i work with are dedicated to finding solutions. this gives me hope. if you had to choose between the private sector and public service, which would it be?

i have tested the two sides of the divide and i tell you both working in the private sector and in public service are both exciting in their own ways – with their own peculiar challenges as well. however, i have had fulfillment in public service life and still have a lot to give back to my country. how has your experience in the legal Profession, been brought to bear, if at all in your current position, heading an economic agency?

the legal profession teaches one to assess and weigh things critically – with eye for details. this attribute has helped me in my Public service career. i knew when i began my tenure at the Council that the foundation of the organization had to be robust and well defined. i abide from this quote from Robert hienlein,“in the absence of clearly defined goals we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it”. i embarked on getting a strategic vision for the Council that was clearly articulated and understood by all relevant stakeholders. my goal is to transform the nePC into a fully functioning export promotion agency in tune with best practices obtained all over the world Would you consider running for political office?

this is not my immediate concern for now. all my efforts right now is to ensuring nigeria continues our nonoil diversification drive. i want to see our country bounce back from our economic down turn stronger than ever, and i believe this is possible. i have a challenging job at hand and will continue to focus on accomplishing this task to the best of my ability.

i have tested the two sides of the divide and i tell you both working in the private sector and in public service are both exciting in their own ways – with their own peculiar challenges as well. however, i have had fulfillment in public service life and still have a lot to give back to my country.