BY UDEME CLEMENT
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) is full of praise for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the N150 billion bailout package plans to resuscitate the real sector of the economy, saying the initiative is a timely intervention and would bring businesses in the industry back on full stream.

The executive secretary of MAN, Ikeja branch, Mr. Segun Ajayi- Kadir, told Sunday Vanguard that N150billion lifeline  would stimulate growth thereby increasing productivity in the  industrial sector of Nigeria’s economy.

“N150billion worth of incentives alone would not tackle the economic woes facing the industry, but would boost production capacity in various aspects.

The challenges facing the manufacturing sector in this country are enormous, ranging from lack of infrastructures to cash crunch and even total closure of companies, but we commend the effort of CBN and we believe that government would address the area of infrastructure development holistically”, he said, adding, “we believe that the plan is part of the measures employed by the CBN to deepen the contributions of the non-oil sector, particularly the manufacturing sector, to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We know that the bailout would stimulate activities in the industry, including new businesses as well as Small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) development, but we are calling on government to create a condusive environment for the industry to grow rapidly.”

He said, “there are records to show that a greater number of MAN’s members currently out of business are mostly textile manufacturers.

This was due largely to the influx of foreign textile materials into Nigerian market and lack of infrastructures for efficient production, which brought about reduced production capacity and sudden closure.

For instance, the crisis in textile industry in the country began over a decade ago and the problem is still lingering without pragmatic steps to restructure the sector for it to thrive.

It is very said to see a situation where some Nigerians smuggle in foreign textile materials into the local market to the detriment of local manufacturers. Such practice must be discouraged because it is disservice to our economy”.

His words:  “Aside from the textile sub-sector, the industry generally is not maximising outputs as expected due to epileptic power supply, which constitutes a major impediment to the growth of the sector. We are all aware of the power crisis in the country.

The manufacturers are the worst hit, because they spend so much in generating their own power to carry out their operations. At the end of the day, the cost of production becomes very high and they find it extremely difficult to compete with their foreign counterparts. So, while some divert into other areas of businesses instead of manufacturing in order to stay afloat, others are completely out of business.

“The business of manufacturing goods involved different processes, which required funds.  So, when entrepreneur spends so much money to purchase raw materials, pays for labour and the basic infrastructures are not available to enable him produce at a reduced rate, it simply means that the tendency for him to increase his margin may not be there. As such, his capital for business would be affected, giving a negative signal that the business is not growing as expected”.