By Ikeoye Oyetoro
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN) and the Bank of Industry have identified key areas they would like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene in order to create a conducive investment climate for the manufacturing sector of the economy.

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In a separate speech during the  39th Annual General Meeting of  Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Apapa Branch, both  the Chairman MAN, Mr John Aluya , and the MD/CEO, Bank of Industry, Ms. Evelyn Oputu, noted that without good monetary policy, the performance of the sector will continued to remain epileptic.

“Manufacturing sector must be recognised as a major catalyst for sustainable growth and development and it must be accorded priority in the scheme of things, the spate of policy reversal must also be halted and replaced with programmes that will inject stability alongside credible policies to restore investor’s confidence and encourage unrestricted inflow of foreign capital,” Aluya said.

“We expect the CBN intervention in medium to long term to reduce operating cost of manufacturers, increase profit, promote employment and generally make the manufacturing sub sector more attractive for financing, said BOI MD.

Represented by Mr. David Nwachukwu , Oputu said that the performance of the manufacturing sector in terms of growth has been relatively low due to financial crises, credit squeeze, decaying infrastructure, underdeveloped agricultural system, low power generation and poor distribution network.

She said government in its effort to improve the manufacturing capacity of this country has approved the establishment of N200billion Small and Medium Enterprises Credit Guarantee Scheme(SMECGS) to promote access to credit by manufacturers and SMEs in Nigeria and so far, a total sum of #130.2bn has been disbursed to 317 eligible projects in the first tranche and more applications are expected from the manufacturers through BOI are expected in the nearest future in order to complete the second tranche.
Also, Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Taxation & Revenue, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, noted that the rate of unemployment  has continued to increase in this country and the only way to tackle it is to enhance the manufacturing sector which can be a major source of employment to the youths.