Frank Jacobs, immediate past president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has said the cost of unsold products belonging to members left in warehouses, rose from 90 billion in 2016 to 321 billion in 2017— a rise of 255.19 per cent.
Speaking at the association’s annual general meeting, during which he handed over, Jacobs said increasing electricity tariffs, inadequate power supply and high interest rates, constitute the bottlenecks they face as producers.
“Inventory of unsold finished goods increased to N161.53 billion in the second half of 2017 from N35.42 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016. Inventory of unsold manufactured goods amounted to N321.12 billion in 2017 against the N90.43 billion recorded in 2016, indicating a 255.19 percent increase over the period,” Jacobs said.
Director-General of the association, Segun Ajayi-Kadri urged the Federal Government to look into the advocacy points they had proposed.
Kadri said domestic refining of crude oil should be resuscitated, just as he called for increased efficiency of the generation, transmission and distribution companies and operability of independent power producers for on/off grid power generation.
He also advocated for better exchange rate management to tilt more towards the industrial sector including SMEs, and sustain priority forex allocation for raw materials, spare parts and machinery.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has, however, maintained that the monetary policy rate, which affects the interest percentage banks lend to the real sector at, cannot be increased at this time due to high liquidity in the economy from election spending.
Analysts in credit rating firm Moody’s, say the government will not be interested in unifying foreign exchange rates until the Dangote refinery starts producing.
