Director-General, Raw Materials Research Council of Nigeria, RMRDC, Prof. Peter Onwualu has stated that Nigeria spends about N50 billiion annually on importation of frozen fish. He made this known at an entrepreneurial development workshop on fish smoking organised by the council in Abuja
Prof Onwualu said the Nigerian fish sector has the capacity to earn over N200billion revenue per annum, if the right policies and intervention were put in place.
With this statistics, he said that Nigeria could boost its revenue earning from other alternative sources of income rather than depending on crude oil.
According to him, entrepreneurship is a vital tool for stimulating economic growth and employment opportunities, and small businesses are the primary engines of job creation and poverty reduction, he said, adding that fish farming as a thriving business in Nigeria could create thousands of jobs. The RMRDC boss regretted that many fish farmers and those who trade in it have refused to modernize the business.
To create the enabling environment for the small and medium scale enterprises, SMEs in the country, he said, that the agency has embarked on enlightening Nigerians on how to package business plans.
