The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) are asking the Federal Government and its various agencies to reduce import duties and initiate waivers on critical items that will mitigate Coronavirus spread or impact on Nigeria.
They also urged all regulatory agencies in the country to treat all requests from manufacturers expeditiously.
“There should be immediate import duties and tax waivers for medical equipment, pharmaceutical products, food processing, raw materials and intermediate products and other essential items,” Toki Mabogunje, president of the LCCI, said in a statement sent to BusinessDay weekend.
“All customs bottlenecks to these sectors should be removed without delay,” she further said.
The outbreak of Covid-19, popularly known as Coronavirus, has brought global economy on its knees as countries fight to keep their citizens alive. The deadly disease has affected over 500,000 people across the world and killed thousands. Africa’s largest economy has 65 cases as of Friday, March 27, but there are fears it might further spread.
Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry is not ready as it does not manufacture critical masks and ventilators needed to keep Nigerians alive at this time.
Many businesses in Nigeria are dying and recession and job losses look more likely.
Mabogunje advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prevail on commercial banks to give concessions on pending private sector credit liabilities over the period of the economic crisis.
“The Nigerian Customs Service, the terminal operators and other agencies of government should extend similar concessions to port users at this time,” she advised.
While acknowledging over N1 trillion the stimulus package proposed by the CBN last week, she said the economic stimulus bill needed to introduced by legislators.
“What is paramount at this time are the quick wins to safeguard public health, security and food security,” Mabogunje said.
“We need to invoke appropriate Executive Orders to make this happen. There should be seamless access to medical and food supplies, especially by the vulnerable groups. We should explore the option of cash transfers to the vulnerable groups to mitigate the pains associated with the current and imminent lockdowns in many parts of the country,” she further said.
She urged businesspeople to complement the current efforts of the government and the various private sector coalitions to ensure effective containment of the pandemic.
On his part, Mansur Ahmed, president of MAN, said in the case of a national lockdown, government should consider the introduction of fiscal measures such as waivers on import duties on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIS) and other essential products, and extend tax holiday to companies on corporate tax while waiving the Value Added Tax (VAT).
He asked the government to reduce the burden of personal income tax as a way of increasing the disposable income of an average Nigerian worker.
“Government should ensure that all regulatory agencies such as Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Standards Organisations of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration & Control (NAFDAC) treat all requests from Manufacturers expeditiously and with the required sensitivity to the prevailing situation,” he said.
He said as manufacturers adhered to safety rules and kept the economy running, it was expedient that government provided safety nets for them to ensure seamless operations.
He urged the CBN to consider directing commercial banks to freeze interest charges.
“The financial support offered by CBN should be extended to the supply of foreign exchange to the manufacturing sector at preCOVID-19 rates,” he advised.
“On our part, in a bid to address the potential impact of the virus on the Nigerian economy, MAN has advised members to ensure they sensitise and educate their workers on compliance with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines and provide requisite facilities and supplies for the prevention of COVID-19 in line with extant guidelines of the NCDC,” he noted.
Ahmed urged the government to include the logistics and distribution arm of manufacturing to make possible delivery of manufactured items to the final consumers.
