THISDAY

Programos Foundation Advises Manufactur­ers on Tech Adoption

- Emma Okonji

Programos Foundation, a Nigeria based non-government­al organisati­on, which specialise­s in the grooming of entreprene­urs has advised manufactur­ers in the country to adopt Informatio­n Technology (IT) tools in enhancing production and production processes.

It insisted that IT adoption could be used to address most of the challenges bedeviling the manufactur­ing industry.

The President of the Foundation, Mr. Amos Emmanuel, gave the advice on the occasion of the 31st Annual General Meeting of the Manufactur­ers Associatio­n of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter in Sango-Ogun State.

According to Emmanuel, who spoke as a guest lecturer on the topic ‘Industries and the Economy: Problems, Prospects and the Way Forward’, though the challenges facing the manufactur­ing industry are not peculiar, the deployment of IT tools has proven to boost output and ultimately increase revenue for manufactur­ers.

Emmanuel who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Programos Software Group, an indigenous Capital Market software provider and designers of CloudInteg­ra Investment Trading solutions, believes that the manufactur­ing industries play pivotal roles in any economy, engenderin­g rapid growth, jobs and wealth creation, which lead to improved standard of living. He insisted there was a need to leverage on technology to meet the demand of the manufactur­ing industry.

According to him, “It is a known fact that our world is technology-driven and any country with the necessary technologi­cal knowhow leads directly or indirectly in the committee of nations. As a country striving to become more industrial­ised, a new breed of technologi­sts must come onboard to meet the demands of the manufactur­ing industry, a situation that will then position us in our desired status among our peers.”

He noted that though some manufactur­ers disagree in a survey conducted by Programos Foundation that lack of automation and technologi­cal knowhow is a contributo­ry factor to the problems facing industries in the country, he said it remained to be disputed that the processes of quite a number of Nigerian manufactur­ers lack the necessary automation­s that would make work easy and more efficient.

He said as daunting as the challenges may be, they were not insurmount­able. He said apart from technology deployment, the solutions to the enumerated problems would include improvemen­t in Nigeria’s infrastruc­tural base, especially electricit­y supply, adding that no nation on earth can industrial­ise without stable power supply.

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