In the view of Local Sourcing of Raw-Materials for manufacturing industry’s utilization, a survey covered 400 Chief Executive Officers of MAN member-companies was conducted in the year under review which stated that Covid-19 pandemic came with enormous negative impact on the economy but on the positive side, it has compelled manufacturers to look inward for raw materials as a result of the distortions in the global supply chain. According to the report, although availability of local raw material has improved over the years, but recently majority of these raw materials are not available in commercial and refined quantities required by industries, thus explaining the reversal in improvement recorded in this section of the MCCI report.
. The Manufacturers Confidence Index (MCCI) is an index which the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) to determine the changes in manufacturing activities quarterly as a result of changes in the macroeconomic ambience and Government policies disclosed that the index gauged 27% of respondents agreed with the item statement on improved local sourcing, while 48% disagreed with the improvement and the remaining 25% were unsure of the status of local sourcing.
Consequently, the report have it that there is need for comprehensive support for backward integration policy particularly in form of infrastructure development to ensure increased processing of the locally available raw materials to meet industrial demand. Government thus needs to further create the enabling environment for investment to flow into the value-chains of these materials that are not locally available to increase the quantum of raw-materials that are developed locally, it was added.
Furthermore, the Government need to strategically involve the private sector operators in the crafting and implementation of new backward integration policies to ensure appropriate policy statements are made at the right time so as not to reverse the industrialization headways already made in the country. The backward integration needs to be in sync with the resource-based industrialization agenda of the nation.
There is therefore the need for Government to continue to drive the backward integration and resource-based industrialization agenda cautiously in full consultation with the Private Sector while ensuring that in the interim FXis more accessible for manufacturing in the country.
