The manufacturing sector has been identified as the catalyst of industrialization and engine of growth of any economy. The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of MAN member-companies across the six geo-political zones of the country and the ten Sectoral Groups of the Association pointed out that the sector in Nigeria faces myriads of challenges, particularly poor economic infrastructure and regulatory challenges.
“These issues account for the almost stationary performance state of the sector in recent times and underscore the need to deliberate chart a course of action to change the narratives of the sector.
The MAN CEOs member-companies across the six geo-political zones of the country and the ten Sectoral Groups of the Association in its third quarter 2019 report released on Thursday highlighted that therefore, to restore the sector to the path of meaningful growth, the following measures should be given priority consideration by the Government:
- Urgent resolution of the Nigeria-Benin border dispute so as to resuscitate Nigeria’s export trade within the ECOWAS region;
- Deliberate channeling of economic infrastructure to strategic economic hubs across the country; resolved the issues of re-classification of manufacturers as strategic users of gas; dredge other seaports across the country to accommodate big vessels and expand the roads leading to Lagos Ports;
- Resuscitation of domestic refining in order to conserve forex for industry needs and improvement local supply of inputs;
- Streamline forex windows, make more forex available for importation of manufacturing inputs that are not locally available and provide appropriate incentives for the struggling sub-sectors;
- Ensuring proper implementation, monitoring and evaluation of government laws, regulations and Executive Orders;
- Ensuring that only approved taxes/fees & levies are collected by agencies of Government;
- Improvement surveillance on the importation and sale of goods that are on the prohibition list in the open market;
- Continuous improvement in monetary policy management focusing on reducing inflation rate; improving the long-term loan portfolios and cost of credit for the industrial sector.
Therefore, we urge the Government to urgently address the challenges identified above and give priority attentions to the green areas in this report.