Over 200 exhibitors are expected to participate at the 5th edition of the Made In Aba Trade Fair in Abuja to showcase various made in Nigeria products.
This was disclosed at a joint press conference between the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) and Eyinnaya Abaribe, a Nigerian senator representing Abia-South Senatorial District of Abia State, to herald the commencement of the annual trade fair in Abuja.
According to Abaribe, trade fair is to provide a platform for the artisans to deepened their market and improve the quality of the goods produced locally, saying that this year’s edition would be a celebration of success in the advancement of Nigerian made goods.
“Today, the artisans; fashion designers, shoemakers, and various other manufacturers are not ashamed to label their product made in Aba, as no obvious difference between made in Aba and foreign (imported) products.
The quality has improved significantly and for some years now all my clothes, shoes are made in Aba including the suit I am wearing today,” the senator said.
Abaribe noted that the concept has been well-received by Nigerians and is gaining more acceptance within the West African subregion as well as other parts of the continent.
He recalled that through SMEDAN, the artisans have been able to improve their qualities and have been linked with off-takers from many parts of the country that buy off their goods from the point of production.
“We are part in the revolution of Nigeria through the promotion of locally made goods.
The senator explained that the reason the trade fair holds in Abuja was to showcase to the global community the quality of Nigeria’s products.
He further appealed to the Federal Government and its agencies especially the military and paramilitary agencies to procure their uniforms locally from Aba to improve the economic growth of the country and support government drive for job creation.
Nigeria has everything within its border to carter for everything, all we have to do is to discover and capitalize on what we have.
Dikko Radda, the director general of SMEDAN, represented by, Wale Fasanya,the Director, Products Development and Promotion, said that SMEDAN has designed a number of Programmes targeting at supporting made in Aba clinic.
“There have been a number of engagement with the Aba artisans aimed at enhancing their skills to compete favourably with their counterpart in other climes,” he said, assuring a massive patronise in this year’s edition of the trade fair.
