VICE-PRESIDENT Yemi Osinbajo has forecasted that the leather products industry will generate more than $1bn by 2025.
Osinbajo said it would also create over 700,000 jobs for Nigerians.
The VP spoke yesterday at the inauguration and sensitisation workshop on the National Leather and Leather Products Policy Implementation Plan, in Abuja, according to a statement signed by Adetayo Otuyemi and Maryam Zakari of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The statement said, “The Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said that the leather products industry will generate over $1bn by the year 2025 and create employment for over 700,000 people.”
“Prof. Osinbajo said that the leather products value chain will afford Nigeria over 70 per cent increase in foreign exchange earnings in a few years from now.”
He said the implementation of the leather products policy was holistic, adding that it would provide a more sustainable infrastructure development plan and guaranteed access to credit facilities for business people.
“The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is supporting this important initiative through offering leadership in the transformation of our economy from a resource-based to a knowledge-and-innovation-driven one,” the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, was quoted as saying.
He said the policy would be effective in helping the country exploit its natural resources, earn and conserve foreign exchange, and create jobs.
The minister called on key stakeholders to join forces in boosting the leather industry.
