The Ministry of State Industry, Trade and Investment, has described as unacceptable the over N4 billion spent annually on the importation of diaper, sanitary pads, wipes and napkins into the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Mr Sunday Akpan, made the disclosure at the validation meeting on the Draft National Industry Policy on Tuesday in Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary added that in spite of the numerous challenges facing the sector, importation of the diaper, sanitary pads, wipers and napkins industry continues to record a steady growth leading to the creation of more jobs.
Represented by the Director of Human Development in the Ministry, Mr. Alabi Samuel Akintunwa, the Permanent Secretary revealed that more investors were making plan to enter the market.
Presently, about 20 companies produces diaper while 17 manufacture sanitary pads, napkins and wipers.
He assured that strategies and incentives to drive the industry have been identified for implementation in the policy adding that the development of the National Industrial sector will drive productivity to help meet local demand and export purposes, job creation, and further boost government industrialization drive.
He said the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan [NIRP] which is the industrial component of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan [ERGP] identified the demand for nappies or diapers and pants in Nigeria as very low in per capital terms.
He said ”This means, it is a developing category with strong growth prospects considering the high fertility and birth rate if Nigerian Women estimated by the United Nations International Children Emergency Funds (UNICEF) to be 5.9 million babies annually”.
