Manufacturers seek lower energy, finance costs to boost production

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Thursday called on the federal and state governments to reduce the cost of energy, improve access to affordable capital and rehabilitate critical infrastructure to enable manufacturers to remain competitive.

President of MAN, Otunba Francis Meshioye, made the call at the association’s 29th Joint Annual General Meeting of its Kaduna branches held in Kaduna.

Meshioye said the high cost of energy currently accounted for about 40 per cent of manufacturing operating costs, making access to affordable and reliable power critical to the survival of businesses.

He also identified high interest rates, difficult access to business-friendly capital and poor road infrastructure as major challenges confronting manufacturers.

He said bad roads increase the cost of transporting goods and accessing manufacturing facilities, ultimately raising the cost of production.
He urged the federal government to prioritise the rehabilitation of highways, while state governments should improve roads linking industrial parks and manufacturing zones.

The MAN president also called for greater patronage of locally manufactured goods by government agencies, saying the implementation of the Nigeria First policy would help stimulate local production and reduce dependence on foreign exchange.

He said increased local content and backward integration would reduce manufacturers’ dependence on imported inputs and help strengthen the naira.

Meshioye said manufacturing remained critical to economic development because its growth would create jobs, increase government revenue and make locally produced goods more affordable.

He said the association remained committed to working with the government to address challenges confronting the sector.