Dr. Frank Jacob (President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria)
There is a need for the government to take care of infrastructure. There is good news with the recent announcement concerning the Development Bank of Nigeria. They need to fast-track the establishment and operation of that bank to make funds available to manufacturers.
But, the government needs to do something about infrastructure, especially now that a lot has been budgeted for this in 2017. We demand a religious implementation of the budget for this year as well as completing the implementation of last year’s budget because it appears that not much was done with last year’s budget. If these two budgets are fully implemented, some of the challenges of the manufacturing sector will be addressed.
There is also a need to expedite action on the take off of the DBN because the moment the bank is on stream, one of our major challenges, which is getting long term funding for the manufacturing sector, will be addressed especially for the micro, small and medium enterprises.
We would also like the government to, as a way of encouraging people, go into manufacturing to reduce tax because of the challenges manufacturers have. They should give some tax incentives to manufacturers.
That will make manufacturing attractive and create jobs. We are suggesting that government should have special tax incentives to manufacturers to encourage more people to go into manufacturing and by so doing, the economy will be better for it.
Mr. Ebikekeme Ere (A former member of House of Representatives)
To revive manufacturing in the country, the paramount thing is power. The Federal Government should also eliminate double taxation. Power and double taxation are the two major things that are killing all the manufacturing industries in Nigeria. Foreign exchange is even the least of the problem because manufacturers will always find a way to get forex.
But reliable power is the major issue. When you spend 60 per cent of your annual revenue to generating power, then you have nothing left for capital expenditure. So, that means you cannot replace your equipment. You find it difficult to hire and train qualified personnel because you are spending all your money on power.
Touts are also not helping matters. The local government, the ministry of environment, the ministry of health, the board of internal revenue, and all kinds of human beings collect revenues. All of that need to be harmonised and done quickly to save the manufacturing sector.
Alhaji Yusuf Kamaldeen (Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Kwara and Kogi states chapter)
The policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria in classifying 41 items as not valid for foreign exchange has made many industrialists in Nigeria to look inward for local supply of raw materials for existing and new manufacturing plants. In less than two years, the request for venture capital by these industrialists has gone up tremendously as a result of the pressure to integrate their manufacturing processes.
However, the recent policy in declassifying some of the items on the same list in less than two years and reduction in the import duty and tariff of some of these items is a blunder. It is a policy somersault, which if not quickly reviewed, will kill the investment drives of industrialists in Nigeria, particularly those who had borrowed heavily to fund plants for the production of raw materials earlier placed under restriction.
Declassifying these items and reduction in the duty rate of these raw materials, for example, Cold Rolled Sheets, will certainly encourage everyone to go back into importation of these intermediate raw materials and at the end of the day, we go back to square one.
Secondly, at what rate will the banks lend to manufacturers if return on Treasury Bills is 18 per cent? All banks now invest in Treasury bills rather than lend to industrialists. Imagine what will happen to funding of plant, machinery and equipment.
Everyone knows that there is no power for the industries to operate and banks are not lending to manufacturers to set up their own power plants. The steel industry, for example, requires a lot of power. The present administration should please revisit the arrangement of providing funds to set up power plants for those in the steel and other important sectors of the economy.
Dr Alofoje Unuigboje (President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Chairman, Edo/Delta branch)
If we must tell ourselves the truth, the developmental template of Nigeria should not be different from the developmental template of other countries in the world. The problem actually is that the Nigerian educational system has been so destroyed that people have no understanding of world movements. And that is a sad thing.
As a matter of fact, the problem of Nigeria can actually be traced to education because you can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t even properly determine whether or not the direction in which the government is taking us will result in getting out of the quagmire we find ourselves.
We are told in this country that government has no business in business; that is arrant nonsense.
Do we realise that government is the venture provider for startups? Why is it difficult for people to compete with American farmers? The US government subsidises everything about farming and at the end of the farming season, the government guarantees the buy-up of whatever the farmers cannot sell.
The Federal Government must break away from the International Monetary Fund and debilitating conditions that ensure that our economy does not develop. We are undeveloped; they (western countries) are developed.
They require a place for their finished goods while we complain here of foreign exchange. You need foreign exchange to buy the goods that you do not produce. If we were producing the goods by ourselves, we would not be crying about foreign exchange.
Government has gone into a $9.2bn Lagos-Calabar railway contract. What is the Ajaokuta steel complex doing? What will it cost to complete the steel complex? It is less than a billion dollars and you went into a contract of $9.2bn whereby the Chinese will produce all the railway tracks, transport them in their ships down here and provide their personnel. Why not rebuild the Ajaokuta steel complex and let it produce all the rail tracks?
That will cut down the contract sum by less than one-third. By the time we finish the project, over a million people would be employed and Nigeria will be the destination for railway infrastructure for the rest of Africa.
Otunba Femi Oke (Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter)
First, there should be increased storage facilities. We lack storage facilities to store agricultural products, whether those manufactured in industries or those produced directly from our farms. So, there is a need for storage facilities to enhance and give more food security to Nigeria, and by extension, boost manufacturing across the country.
The government needs to encourage more of our people in the agriculture value chain. There is a need for increased machinery and support for local processing plant producers. There is a huge manufacturing market in the agricultural sector and this requires a lot of processes both in industries and on farms.
To revamp manufacturing, the government needs to increase funding to manufacturers especially in agriculture. I speak majorly about agriculture because that is my area of concentration. And there are a lot of people that are into the manufacturing of one product or the other. The Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria is not too accessible presently. So, we want government to deal directly with farmers. We can work with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development through the Bank of Agriculture. Most farmers that are into the manufacturing of goods from their farm produce need funds and this is one area that the government needs to look at critically.
Punch
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