The president of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Engr Mansur Ahmed, has urged the government to create plausible incentives for investments in the development of raw materials locally through backward integration and resource based industrialization.
This was one of the highlights of the association second half economic review 2021, that was made available to Financial Edge. The review is outcome of direct feedback from manufacturers across the country, on how they are feeling about the economy and policies of government during the period under consideration.
However, notwithstanding the improve performance of the manufacturing sector during the year under review, Engr Ahmed pointed out that, it is still far beyond its potential growth and contribution to national output due to an almost innumerable challenges confronting the sector.
He noted that as a result of Covid-19 impact on the economy “We recognize an urgent need for investment and production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) in the country; this should be adequately incentivized to encourage significant private investments”
According to him, “the year 2021 provided the opportunity to redress the staggering negative impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on global, national, and industrial scales. Just as world economy strongly rebounded in 2021 following the continuous containment of the pandemic and the opening of global economies, the Nigerian economy and the manufacturing sector also reflected this positive movement in their output growth in the year. The economy leapt from -1.94 growth rate in 2020 to 3.38 percent in 2021, just as the manufacturing sector growth increased from -2.85 percent in 2020 to 3.37 percent in 2021”.
Aside the issue of infrastructure and the need to promote export that can earn foreign exchange for the country, the president MAN advised government to allow industrial policies in the country to gestate with proper monitoring and evaluation rather than jettisoning or altering them frequently. While he suggested that they should monitor the implementation of Executive Order 003 to ensure compliance by MDAs to boost activities in the manufacturing sector.
