RismadarVoice Reporters
July 24, 2026
Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Africa must take its rightful place in global trade by maximising its abundant natural resources through industrialisation and value addition.
Speaking during an official visit to the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, Senator Shettima said the Tinubu administration is committed to ensuring that no region of Nigeria is left behind in its industrialisation drive.
The Vice President, who led a delegation of state governors on an assessment tour of the industrial hub, said Nigeria would replicate key aspects of the Beninese model, particularly in agro-processing and manufacturing, as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He noted that Africa currently earns only a fraction of the global value of its cotton industry despite its vast production capacity, stressing that reviving Nigeria’s textile value chain would create millions of jobs, boost non-oil exports and stimulate economic growth.
The delegation toured integrated textile, garment, cashew and soybean processing facilities within the industrial zone, which has created more than twenty-five thousand jobs since production began in 2021.
Governors from Kwara, Imo, Jigawa, Katsina, Plateau and Zamfara States, who accompanied the Vice President, expressed readiness to explore similar industrial projects in their respective states to promote investment, youth employment and value-added production.
