Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has appealed to the Bank of Industry (BoI) and other development partners to give financial grants to shoe manufacturers in Aba to boost their productivity.
Ikpeazu made the appeal on Thursday when officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited him in Umuahia.
He said that funding was the major challenge confronting shoemakers and other artisans in the commercial city.
According to him, there are about 10,000 shoemakers in Aba who can produce all the shoes required by the army, immigration and navy.
He, however, said that the shoemakers required financial assistance to procure modern equipment for mass production and fine finishing of their products to make them competitive.
He said that his administration planned to set up industrial clusters to enhance the prospects of shoemakers and allied artisans in Aba.
Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, represented by Ambassador Saleh Pisaghi, said they were in the state on a one day sensitisation workshop.
He said that the workshop was organised by the ministry in conjunction with the BoI, ECOWAS Commission, Bank of Agriculture and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises to sensitise the Abia residents to their statutory functions.
He said that the ministry chose Aba because ‘’it is an industrial hub and produces so many things which are mislabeled as not produced in the country’’.
