Nigeria plans to open the first pencil plant in west Africa in 2018
Taiwo Owoeye
The Minister of Science and Technology, NIGERIA PLANS TO OPEN THE FIRST PENCIL PLANT IN WEST AFRICA IN 2018 has said with the value of oil and the Naira Currency in decline, Nigeria is turning to old-fashioned pencils to provide relief.
He announced that the first pencil plant in West Africa would start production in 2018.
In a chat with our correspondent, Ogbonnaya said, “that all the things to produce a pencil which is used by a large number of people from our young pupils to engineers are abundantly available”.
“The private sector will come in to do the production and we will see the benefits when production of pencils begins, Nigerians will be amazed at the multiplier effects. It will create a minimum of 400,000 job”.
The Minister explained that pencils use raw materials that Nigeria possesses in abundance, such as wood, graphite and rubber.
He said, all pencils are currently imported, which has become prohibitively expensive as the Naira struggles.
Ogbonnaya added that the pencil production can help to revive the manufacturing sector, which has declined since the oil boom era in 1970s.