Bata Nigeria is a franchise tied to Bata, a historic shoe company based in Switzerland, and present in 70 countries. The Nigeria franchise has stores in the capital, Abuja, the southwestern megacity Lagos and southern oil city Port Harcourt. The factory, which opened in late 2019, can produce more than 500,000 shoes annually. It employs roughly 120 people. Bata Nigeria also sells shoes directly to Nigerian schools, for pupils as part of their uniform, and stocks other stores in the country. Nigeria’s government hopes companies like Bata can spur the local manufacturing sector, create jobs and reduce Africa’s biggest economy’s reliance on oil sales. It has tried to stimulate this with its long-running “Made in Nigeria” agenda, which included placing import restrictions on shoes in 2007. The shift to locally-made goods is slowly taking effect. In 2010 Nigeria imported $180 million worth of footwear. By 2018 this figure had fallen to $100 million, mostly from China.
SOURCE: REUTERS AFRICA