Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso will deliver the 10th edition of The Bullion Lecture to spotlight the role of raw materials development, value addition and innovation in driving Nigeria’s industrial transformation.
The event, drawing policymakers including investment analysts, is scheduled for April 23 at The Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, with the theme: “From Resources to Prosperity: How Raw Materials Development, Value Addition and Innovation Can Catalyse Nigeria’s Industrial Renaissance.”
Ike-Muonso, a natural resource economist and academic with more than three decades of experience in raw materials markets, supply chain economics and research commercialisation, is expected to outline strategies for repositioning Nigeria from a resource-dependent exporter to a value-driven industrial economy.
As head of the RMRDC, he has been at the forefront of policy advocacy aimed at deepening domestic industrial capacity. Among the initiatives associated with his leadership is the proposed 30 per cent Value-Addition Bill, which seeks to mandate local processing of extracted raw materials before export. The policy is intended to strengthen local manufacturing linkages, promote economic sovereignty and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on the export of unprocessed commodities.
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He has also championed restrictions on the importation of raw materials considered locally abundant, a move designed to encourage local production and support Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a major manufacturing and production hub in Africa.
Before his appointment at the RMRDC, Ike-Muonso was Chief Executive Officer of ValueFronteira Limited, a commodities research and data analytics firm. He has also worked with several international development institutions and academic bodies, including the World Bank, UNDP, European Commission, ECOWAS, USAID, DFID, FCDO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lagos Business School and Edinburgh Business School.
In a statement issued in Lagos, Dr. Ray Echebiri, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Financial Journalism, organisers of The Bullion Lecture, said this year’s edition would be chaired by Otunba Kelvin Dele Oye, Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics and former President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture.
He added that HRH Jacob Esan, Chief Executive Officer of Geo Fluids Plc, and Mr. Christian Udechukwu, Anambra State Commissioner for Industrial Development, would serve as panelists to review and analyse the guest lecturer’s presentation.
The event will also feature the presentation of a book titled Pathways to Nigeria’s Socio-Economic Transformation, edited by Echebiri. The publication is a compilation of lecture texts delivered at The Bullion Lecture series from 2016 to 2026.
Organisers said the event is expected to attract a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including government officials, captains of industry, academics, banking and finance executives, energy sector operators, manufacturers, maritime professionals, ICT experts, diplomats, representatives of multilateral institutions, media practitioners and members of the public.
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