12 July 2013, Calabar – The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Engineer Ernest Nwapa, has said that the annual spending on locally sourced goods and services by General Electrics, (GE) Nigeria, is expected to rise to $60million (N9.6)billion from $4 million.
Nwapa who was represented by Mr. Uduak Obot, NCDMB Zonal Coordinator, Akwa-Ibom at a suppliers fair in Calabar, commended GE for its foresight in investing in the state.
According to him, “This effort is a clear indication that GE is committed to the growth of the Nigerian economy and we assure the company of our support to see the project to completion.” Continuing he said; “This manufacturing and assembly factory aims to significantly increase the local content of GE’s operations in Nigeria by increasing local ownership of equipment, in-country project execution expertise and use of local legal, financial and engineering services.”
In a related development, GE through its President/CEO, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo re-affirmed the company’s commitment to being a long-term strategic partner to Nigeria’s economic development and transformation. This he also said was in line with the $1 billion investment announcement made earlier in the year by the company’s Global CEO, Jeff Immelt.
He noted that the planned manufacturing and assembly plant is expected to create 2,300 jobs, 300 of which will be direct GE hires and the remaining 2,000 indirect jobs created through GE suppliers that will support its expanded operations. He also said the company plans to set up a training institute on site to build employee capacity and capability.
He re-affirmed the company’s commitment to being a long-term strategic partner to Nigeria’s economic development and transformation. He said: “We are committed to strengthening our local presence in Nigeria through this investment in Calabar. The facility will significantly increase the local content of our operations in Nigeria by supporting the burgeoning power sector and providing manufacturing capabilities for the oil and gas industry.”
Also speaking, the Global Supply Chain Leader, Mr. Phil Griffith said; “GE firmly believes in the capability and capacity of our Nigerian supplier partners in engineering and other sectors to work with us to deliver on this investment commitment. It is for this reason that today we decided to invite indigenous companies to witness first-hand the opportunities that this project will avail to them. Most importantly we also want to see what capabilities are available locally and how we can assist in developing supplier capabilities where they are lacking.”
– Princewill Ekwujuru, Vanguard