Kaduna State governor Uba Sani has hailed his administration’s reforms as delivering early gains in public finance, governance and the business climate, with the state topping the country’s fiscal transparency rankings for two years running.
Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, Mrs. Patience Fakai who represented the Governor at the 47th Kaduna International Trade Fair stated this and said the measures were stabilising finances, enhancing accountability and drawing investors.
“Industrialisation must be rooted in local enterprise, local skills and strong local value chains,” she said, spotlighting agribusiness, minerals, manufacturing, ICT and services.
The fair, she added, was a chance to turn investor interest into partnerships, aligning with Kaduna’s push for local content in industry.
In a keynote, Nura Abba Rimi, Prrmanent Secretary at Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said Nigeria’s trade policy was now in implementation, prioritising local production and exports.
Success, he noted, would be judged by rising factory output and shipments abroad, with local content expanding beyond oil and gas.
Digital platforms are easing trade tracking and bureaucracy, while efforts target infrastructure shortfalls and finance for local firms, Rimi said.
Kaduna Chamber of Commerce president Farouk Suleiman, while welcoming guests, stressed production over reform alone.
“Only production creates prosperity. Only skills create jobs. Only enterprise creates wealth,” he declared.
Under new leadership, the chamber aims to become a policy voice, business booster and skills hub, with youth and women targeted via training in vocational skills, digital tools, agro-processing, incubation and finance.
Partnerships will fund Skills Acquisition and Enterprise Development Centres to foster job creation.
