Lagos — President Umaru Yar'adua has reiterated the determination of the Federal Government to raise power generation to 6,000mw by December this year.

The President, who gave the assurance at the 37th annual general meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on Thursday in Lagos, believed that power supply was the major problem of the industrial sector.

Yar'Adua, who was represented by Minister of Commerce and Industry, Achike Udenwa, said "Nigeria must get the issue of adequate power supply right for meaningful industrial progress.

"It is in this regard that the Federal Government is determined to raise the nation's power generation capacity to 6,000mw by December, this year," he said.

Yar'Adua said the ongoing projects under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) would be pursued with greater vigour, while government would support new projects.

He lamented that the manufacturing sector had been contributing just 3.6 per cent on the average to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when it had a huge potential to create wealth and generate unemployment.

On high interest rates, the President said government would continue to partner with the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to strengthen and recapitalise the development finance institutions.

The institutions, he said, included the Bank of Industry (BOI), the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) and NEXIM.

According to him, the focus is to achieve a single digit interest rate and the long term funding needs of the industrial sector.

Earlier, MAN President, Bashir Borodo, said inadequate power supply to the manufacturers was responsible for the non-competitiveness of made-in-Nigeria products.

He said the association hoped that the Federal Government would meet its target of 6,000mw by December and 10,000mw by 2010.

Borodo said MAN incorporated the Manufacturers Power Development Company Ltd (NPDCL) in 2008 as its modest contribution to enhancing power generation in the country.

He disclosed that the first of the company's projects would be commissioned by December, while its Kano Wind Power Project would kick off soon.

He stressed the need for incentives to attract international development financial institutions and other foreign investors to play active roles in the nation's energy sector.