Arridex Positions Additive Manufacturing as Infrastructure for Nigeria’s Industrialisation, Hosts MAN’s Team
Dike Onwuamaeze
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Arridex, Mr. Kayode Adeleke, has presented additive manufacturing as infrastructure for Nigeria’s industrialisation drive.
Adeleke made this presentation when he hosted a delegation of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) led by the Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir.
The delegation toured the Arridex’s advanced manufacturing gallery and the Omnifactory production floor, where they saw the equipment and materials behind the on-demand production of industrial components for Nigerian operators.
He said that three tests of industrial sovereignty are whether a country can make a component; whether it can sustain it and whether it owns the design, the data and the standard behind it.
He added that a manufacturer whose critical inputs are decided elsewhere must forecast failures that may never happen, buy to a supplier’s minimum, pay in foreign currency at the rate of the day, and tie up working capital in a warehouse.
Adeleke said: “Sovereignty is not the same as self-sufficiency. No nation makes everything it needs, but every nation must be able to choose what it depends and when.
“That is what the Omnifactory represents, the ability to support the strengthening of operational resilience by manufacturing the critical components that Nigerian industry needs, on demand, at home.
“This is a capability for the country, and we are glad that MAN’s leadership could see it firsthand.”
In his remarks, Ajayi-Kadir welcomed the innovation additive manufacturing is bringing to Nigeria’s industrial sector.
He said that MAN would work with its members to identify areas in which additive manufacturing could have the greatest impact, and committed the association’s continued advocacy and policy support for domestic component manufacturing.
The visit followed the commissioning of the Omnifactory in Lagos this year as West Africa’s first multi-technology industrial additive manufacturing facility.
Adeleke said that a second phase, the Mega Omnifactory, is programmed for commissioning in 2027 and Arridex expects that it would rank among the world’s largest single-site industrial 3D manufacturing facilities.
