TheCable

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has asked the Central Bank of Naira (CBN) to allocate more foreign exchange to ease the importation of raw materials and machinery.

Okwara Udensi, the chairman of MAN, Edo and Delta zones, made the call on Thursday while speaking at the 36th annual general meeting in Benin.

The meeting was themed, ‘Nigeria’s struggling economy and unstable macroeconomic policies: lessons and challenges for the manufacturing sector’.

Udensi said the sector needs an urgent bailout from the federal government to prevent total collapse as the persistent shortage in dollars was affecting the manufacturing sector negatively.

“Manufacturing companies are unable to access the dollar at the official rates and they need it for the importation of raw materials,” he said.

“They have, consequently, to go to the parallel market to get the dollar at higher rates.

“The sector is facing numerous challenges and it needs the urgent attention of the federal government to provide an adequate bailout for the sector to avoid total collapse.”

Udensi also said the manufacturing sector would only be able to contribute to the country’s economic growth if the numerous challenges militating against its smooth operations were tackled.

He added that the challenges include poor electricity, high lending rates, multiple taxes and levies by government agencies, low patronage of made-in-Nigeria products, congestion at the Lagos ports, among others.

“It is our expectation that these identified challenges be addressed by the government to move the country from an import-dependent to a self-sufficient and export-based economy,” he said.

“This can only be made possible with consistency in governments’ policies to guarantee the required enabling environment so that manufacturing companies are able to operate at maximum capacity.”

On his part, Mansur Ahmed, national president, MAN, urged the CBN to direct commercial banks to process forex allocation applications by manufacturers transparently.

Ahmed was represented by Alofoje Unuigboje, a former chairman of MAN, Edo and Delta chapter.

He said the federal government must develop a strategic response to the disruptive impact of the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war on the global supply value chain.

In addition, Mercy Anyiwe, a professor of economics at the University of Benin, advised manufacturers to leverage innovation and technology to make their products competitive in the global market.

She also asked MAN to partner with research institutes and academia to overcome some of their challenges.