POLITICAL Economy

Kano Free Trade Zone Prioritises Employment For Nigerian Youths

by admin on | 2026-09-02 11:34:20

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Kano Free Trade Zone Prioritises Employment For Nigerian Youths

By Ahmad Sirajo Makama

The Director, Kano Free Trade Zone, Solomon Matthew, says employment generation remains one of the major objectives of the free trade zone, particularly in providing opportunities for Nigerian youths.

Matthew, who disclosed this during a media tour of the Kano Free Trade Zone, said the zone, located in Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State, North-west Nigeria, occupies 262 hectares of land and accommodates enterprises engaged in manufacturing, processing and trading.

He said it has created between 3,000 and 5,000 direct jobs through its 87 operational enterprises, while supporting technology transfer, local manufacturing and foreign investment into the country.

“113 enterprises have been registered in the zone since its establishment with 87 currently functional,” Matthew said.

Matthew identified technology transfer as another major benefit of the free trade zone, particularly “through collaboration between Nigerian workers and expatriates with specialised expertise.”

“They come in here, establish their enterprises, their factories, and they employ Nigerians and Nigerians work with them, thereby getting the knowledge, because they are working with them.

“At the end of the day, technology is being transferred”, he said.

The Director also highlighted foreign direct investment as a major contribution of the zone, noting that investors bring capital into the country to establish and operate businesses.

“These investors come into the country and come with their money to invest.”

He said the free trade zone is also stimulating economic activity among small businesses operating around the facility through what he described as “backward linkages.”

Deputy Director of the Kano Free Trade Zone, Richard Bassey, during the tour, disclosed that the Kano Free Trade Zone generated more than 36 billion naira in customs revenue between January and August 2026, representing a sharp increase from the over 24 billion naira recorded in the whole of the previous year.

Bassey said the increased revenue followed closer collaboration between the zone’s management and the Nigeria Customs Service, with both agencies working to ensure that revenue is collected without undermining the incentives available to free-zone investors.

He explained that manufacturers importing raw materials into the zone operate under suspended duty arrangements, with duties becoming applicable depending on whether the resulting products enter Nigeria’s domestic customs territory.

The Deputy Director said an inventory procedure had also been introduced in collaboration with Customs to ensure that manufacturers pay duty only on imported raw materials actually used in production, while production waste is excluded.

“The inventory procedure allows you to pay duty for only the raw materials you have used and waste is excluded,” Bassey said.

He explained that goods brought into the zone for warehousing and subsequently released into Nigeria attract full duty, while goods exported to other countries do not attract Nigerian customs duty because they have not entered the domestic market.

Also, Nutri-K Limited, a manufacturer of ready-to-use therapeutic food at the Kano Free Trade Zone, said it has provided nutritional support to about 1.3 million malnourished children since commencing operations in 2020, with plans to reach nearly two million vulnerable children.

Head of Health, Safety and Sustainability at Nutri-K, Ummah Aliu, said the company manufactures specialised nutritional products designed to treat malnutrition in children.