A new lease of life is being injected into the Nigerian Raw Materials Exhibition (NIRAM EXPO) as the Raw Material Research & Development Council (RMRDC), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Science & Technology (originator of the event) and Clarion Events West Africa, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding granting Clarion Events West Africa the right to organise the now annual Nigeria Raw Material Expo (NIRAM EXPO) with effect from 2017.
According to the organiser, the 2017 edition of the NIRAM Expo, will be co-located with the Nigeria Manufacturing and Equipment Expo featuring mPAD (NME Expo) holding from Tuesday, 14th to Thursday, 16th March 2017 at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking during the signing of the MOU at the corporate headquarters of Clarion Events in London, Tokunbo Habeeb, Assistant Director, RMRDC revealed that the partnership with Clarion Events West Africa will enhance commercialization and linkage of Research & Development efforts with manufacturing industries and encourage more investments in resource-based manufacturing opportunities.
Habeeb said the partnership will create an enabling platform for trading and procurement in resources and raw materials in order to sustain manufacturing in Nigeria, while initiating opportunity for synergy among all stakeholders involved in the raw materials value chain. This event will promote patronizing raw material in Nigeria and offer current developments to those in the sector.
The annual Nigeria Raw Material Expo (NIRAM EXPO) will be bigger and better than ever before, creating a conducive and engaging platform for trading in industrial resources and raw materials value chain; in order to hasten and sustain their procurement among manufacturing industries in Nigeria. This event will create opportunities for synergy among all stakeholders involved in raw materials value chain’, he concluded.
Also speaking at the event, Russell Hughes, Commercial Director, Clarion Events West Africa expressed excitement about the partnership and how the co-location of the NME and NIRAM Expos would complement on-going efforts of the Federal Government to diversify the Nigerian Economy.
While reacting to the development, Dele Alimi, Managing Director, Clarion Events West Africa said the infusion of the NIRAM Expo into the NME Expo would afford several companies and countries who have registered as exhibitors and visitors a rare opportunity of exposure to the entire manufacturing value chain, which will include machinery and tools, financial support, professional consultancy and now raw material.
“The NME Expo featuring mPAD during its first edition in March 2016 was the most comprehensive manufacturing exhibition in Nigeria as attested to, by the participants. With this added value of NIRAM Expo in 2017, the event becomes the one-stop centre for manufacturers in Nigeria”, he said.
Alimi added that with Manufacturers Association of Nigeria being the Event Patron for the NME and the Raw Material Research & Development Council being the Event Patron for the NIRAM Expo and two major federal government ministries, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investments and the Federal Ministry of Science Technology being the Host Ministries, a major confluence of ideas and solutions to move Nigeria’s industrial sector forward would be brought to the fore.
“The incorporation of NIRAM Expo into the 2017 Nigeria Manufacturing & Equipment Expo, will prove to be the most exciting thing to happen to the Industrial sector in Nigeria in 2017. It would be a veritable platform for SMEs who wants to boost their output, reduce cost, drive quality improvement, manufacture for new market and also secure funding for growth. It would also provide opportunities for the medium and large size corporations to retool and get local sources of raw materials to boost production and reduce cost and time of procurement” He concluded.
The annual Nigeria Raw Material Expo will offer two technical workshops (Master Class Demonstration) of both agriculture and mineral value chain demonstrations from start to finish, as well as Paper presentation and discussions featuring issues of raw materials sourcing challenges in key sector of the economy by selected and well known industrialists and Erudite scholars.
