NAFDAC DG speaks on national trade, Investment * Lists steps taken to grow SMEs sub-sector

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NAFDAC DG speaks on national trade, Investment

* Lists steps taken to grow SMEs sub-sector

(By Udeme Clement):

The Director General, National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has said that the Agency is committed to strengthening regulatory framework, to enhance efficiency and improve service delivery to stakeholders.

Picture of NAFDAC DG:

She made this known through her representative, Mrs Edosa Ogbeide, an official of NAFDAC, at the
National Trade and Investment Summit, 2020, with the theme: ‘Harnessing Potentials of Trade, Investment for National Economic Growth and Sustainability”.

Her words, “Upon assumption of office on November 30, 2017, I resolved to consolidate the gains of the past and take the Agency to greater heights. This requires that our approaches to regulation imbibe best international practices and are aligned with global regulatory standards in strengthening regulatory oversight.

“With a very wide mandate, I do appreciate and recognise the broad stakeholder base of the Agency with special focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) amongst them.

“The Agency ensures that only quality products that are safe, efficacious and wholesome reach the market and ultimately, the consuming public. This is achieved through vigorous regulatory activities including inspection of production facilities, sampling, review of labelling information, laboratory evaluation, post marketing surveillance and enforcement.”

She pointed out, “As a regulatory body, steps taken so far include:
ADMINISTRATIVE RESTRUCTURING: For effective administration. some Directors were moved to strategic positions. In order to strengthen the zones and MSMEs, Directors were assigned to head the Zonal Offices and registration processes as some products were decentralised.

“Considering the Lagos metropolis and the number of MSMEs, a new Lagos Office was created, which is being led by a Director, as well as that of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The outcomes of this structural and administrative changes have thus far been very satisfying.

“QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: We are fully embracing institutional regulatory reforms for sustainability and are entrenching a Quality Management System (QMS) ISO 9001:2015 within the Agency. This is a strategic decision that is Customer-focused, Agency-minded. The goal is to improve overall performance and provide a stable foundation for entrenching quality culture within the scope of our activities.

“INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT): To increase efficiency we have embraced fully the deployment of ICT in our operations. Our website has been revamped to increase transparency and we will continue to strive to build a more robust ICT platform. NAFDAC Regulations & Guidelines and other critical regulatory activities are hosted and continuously being updated on the Agency’s website.

“INTER-AGENCY COLLABORATION ON EXPORTATION :
The economy of Nigeria is undergoing diversification from oil to Non-Oil products, and the MSME sector would play a critical role to achieve this transformation. Upon formalisation of processes, MSMEs get involve in export of regulated products including Food – Shea Butter, honey to mention a few. To enable a platform for trade seamlessly, NAFDAC is involved in collaboration with sister Agencies.

“Towards this objective NAFDAC on August 9, 2019 held an interactive Stakeholder’s meeting on ‘Effective inter-agencies collaboration as a means to diversify Nigeria’s Economy through Export’. Officers of Nigeria Customs Service, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Nigerian Postal Service, Nigeran Shippers Council and the Media attended the programme”.

She continued: “EASE OF DOING BUSINESS AND MSMEs: Globally, MSMEs contribute up to 45% of total employment and up to 33% of National Income in emerging economies. In a recent review of 2017 survey according to National Policy on MSMEs, it was revealed that in Nigeria, there were 41.4 million MSMEs.”

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