Business
Intermediate Raw Materials Dev’ll Save Nigeria N2trn – RMRDC
The development of Nigeria’s intermediate raw materials will save it over N2 trillion in foreign exchange in the next 25 years, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), has said.
The Director-General of the council, Prof. Peter Onwualu, made this known at a briefing with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that since the council’s inception 25 years ago, it had consistently pursued a central mandate aimed at promoting the exploitation, development and utilisation of local raw materials in the country.
“Little wonder that after 25 years experience in value addition to local raw materials; the council had emerged as Nigeria’s focal point for the development of Nigeria’s vast industrial raw materials.
“Our target is to increase the percentage of local content in industrial raw materials utilisation in Nigeria from the current 25 per cent to 60 per cent in the next 25 years.
“This, by our estimation can save Nigeria over N2 trillion in foreign exchange for importation of intermediate raw materials, process equipment and impact skills,’’ Onwualu said.
According to the him, Nigeria is expending foreign exchange to import raw materials and products which can be sourced from the country, which he says is due to lack of awareness.
Onwualu added that the country was processing about 25 per cent of its local cocoa production prior to council’s existence.
He said that the figure changed to 75 per cent with council’s intervention over the years, saying that additional 2,000 jobs were created through its effort.
Onwualu said that over 100 research projects had been funded by the council, and about 50 per cent of research results had been commercialised, while 30 per cent were at various stages of commercialisation through pilot plants and joint venture with SMEs.
He expressed the council’s belief on the development of the nation’s natural raw materials and investment in people, saying that both were possible and sustainable.
Onwualu said that to ensure that both remained a socio-economic vehicle for sustainable national development and growth, the council had embarked on intensive investment promotion campaigns across the country.
He said that the next 25 years, over 2,000,000 jobs would be created in the area of raw materials production, processing, distribution and final processing of goods and services.
“We hope to achieve these by consolidating on the council’s information generation, research grants scheme, commercialisation of research results and promotion of investment in resource based industries,’’ he said.
Onwualu said that the council would work with other relevant organisations to see to the emergence of about 5,000 competitive SMEs.
He said that this would be done by using research results and technologies developed by the council research institution, universities and other higher institutions.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
