We (MAN) appreciate the achievements of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) at improving the Ease-of-Doing-Business in the country since its inauguration.
Dr Frank Udemba Jacobs, the President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in his welcome address at the 2018 manufacturers annual lecture & presidential luncheon in commemoration of the 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association held in Lagos said “This initiative has improved the nation’s ranking on the World Bank EODB index and we expect that the challenges facing the manufacturing sector would be addressed frontally so that the improved EODB would translate into lower production cost for manufacturers. We are confident that the intensity of the implementation of PEBEC and other policies earlier mentioned will be sustained, even as we enter into the period of intense political activities across the country. 
FAMILIAR MANUFACTURING CHALLENGES
Dr Jacobs said it is no longer news that manufacturers are still faced with numerous challenges that are largely responsible for the not too impressive performance of the manufacturing sector and the uncompetitiveness of Nigerian manufactured products. This is evidenced by available data which showed that the Nigerian manufacturing sector was stunted in 2017.
The MAN President noted that these challenges are still manifesting in the form of high inventory of unsold finished products, inadequate electricity supply, frequent increases in electricity tariff in the face of poor services from distribution companies and abnormally high interest rates. Others are: high excise duties on some products, inadequate trade facilitation infrastructure, expensive price of natural gas, unfriendly port environment, multiplicity of taxes/levies/fees, exorbitant cost of haulage, congestion at the Lagos seaports arising from the non functionality of other seaports in the country, high incidence of smuggling and counterfeiting of locally manufactured products, to mention but a few.
He also said the good news is that these issues with suggested recommendations are contained in our advocacy submissions to the Government and I believe that steps are being taken to resolve them.
“Your Excellency, the manufacturing sector has proven to be the heart of industrialization and driver of sustainable and inclusive economic growth in developed and developing economies. In fact, no economy will experience sustained growth without a vibrant manufacturing sector. Therefore, Government needs to speed up actions that would lead to the quick resolution of these constraints in order to reposition and further improve the performance of the manufacturing sector” 
THE THEME OF THE AGM AND ANNUAL LECTURE
Prof pointed out that the theme of our 46th Annual General Meeting is “Mainstreaming Industrial Policies to Catalyze Industrial Renaissance”. The choice of the theme was borne out of the need to appraise the performance of industrial policy initiatives, with a view to ensuring that they are positively aligned to the industrial aspirations and overall economic development agenda of the nation. We expect that His Excellency, President Nana Akufo-Addo will share his wealth of experience while navigating the tasking terrain of promoting national industrial development in a global economy that is skewed against the African continent, added he.
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement
Dr Jacobs stressed that, MAN would like to seize this opportunity to commend you for the patriotic decision you took to withhold your assent to the AfCFTA in March 2018, in order to have a wider consultation on issues involved in the AfCFTA. In line with our earlier presentations on the subject matter, we wish to reiterate that MAN is not against any agreement that will facilitate intra-African trade, particularly where Africans stand to benefit. Our concerns were principally the inadequacy of private-sector stakeholders’ consultations and the absence of a credible country-specific study that should form the basis of our negotiation as a country. He noted that we expressed worry over the haste in the signing of an Agreement upfront without a clue as to what its major and defining components would be or portends for our country, that is, the potential impact of the Agreement on the Nigerian economy.
“With the conclusion of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations nationwide sensitization programme on AfCFTA and the ongoing consultations with stakeholders, we are looking forward to a robust study that will empirically reveal the potential impact of the Agreement on the Nigerian economy, guide the negotiating team in the negotiation of the protocols and annexures to the Agreement and generally reveal its compatibility with our industrial aspirations and overall economic development agenda.
EU-ECOWAS Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
“President Buhari deserves applause for maintaining the position of most private sector stakeholders by not signing the European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). As has been rightly established, EPA runs counter to our industrial aspirations as a nation, as clearly enshrined in the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and will dismantle the industrialization headways already made in Nigeria. We hereby recommend that this stance be maintained in the best interest of our economy and the over one hundred and eighty million Nigerians.
“I would like to express my deep appreciation for your eminent presence here today. As a Business Membership Organization, we are obliged to maintain constant and adequate engagement with our key publics. Your esteemed presence here bears testimony to our unfailing commitment to the fulfilment of this mandate, to the benefit of the manufacturing community in particular and the overall wellbeing of our economy and great country in general.
Dr Jacobs reiterated “We are immensely grateful to Your Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, for finding time, out of your busy schedule to be with us at this event.
“We are indebted, to His Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo, President of our sister country, the Republic of Ghana for gracing our AGM with his esteemed presence and agreeing to share his wealth of experience at the highest level of governance with us.
He thanks Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Executive Governor of Lagos State and his Commissioners for coming. To our Honourable Ministers; Members of the Diplomatic Corps; our colleagues in the Organised Private Sector, our friends from the media I say thank you for the honour you have done us today by your kind attendance to this event.
He disclosed that this 46th AGM marks the end of my tenure as the 9th President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. I have completed my four-year tenure as President and my successor will commence his tenure as the 10th President after this Annual General Meeting, he noted.
