As the economy rebounds post-COVID-19, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the federal government to intensify its efforts on economic growth and development through enabling policies and activities, while giving increased attention to crucial sectors like manufacturing.
MAN, in a public statement signed by Segun Ajayi-Kadir, its director-general, said although the economy witnessed a successive positive growth rate of 0.51 percent following the 0.11 percent recorded in Q4 2020 when the local and global economy was challenged with the pandemic, the 0.51 percent is a sub-optimal performance when compared with the 2.1 percent achieved in the same period of 2019. This signifies the need for proactive efforts to increase the growth momentum going forward.
“It would appear that the reported result may possibly mark the beginning of a tortuous journey back to the path of recovery and meaningful growth, so the situation calls for more intentional actions from government focused on supporting productive activities to drive better performance in the remaining quarters of the year,” Ajayi-Kadir said.
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Speaking about the country’s manufacturing sector which remained operational in the heat of the pandemic, particularly the pharmaceutical and chemical subsector, the food & beverage subsector, and the cement, basic metal, iron & steel subsectors, the DG noted that it is still struggling with inherent challenges, which is affecting its growth trajectory.
Ajayi-Kadir noted that it was surprising the sector performed beyond projected figures, achieving 3.4 percent during this period, saying there was no recorded high level of economic activities in the sector that would justify such a growth rate as manufacturers are currently experiencing the rising cost of manufacturing inputs.
He added that the manufacturers have little confidence operating in the economy as various indexes which measure the performance of players in the sector are performing below average, especially the quarterly MCCI which read 49.1 points in the first quarter of 2021.
“In Q1 2021 manufacturing activities, more or less, rebounded to the level of pre-COVID-19 period, so it is expected that the sector will present better performance. However, we are mindful of the negative impact of the depreciation in naira value and acute shortage of FOREX as they remained huge challenges in the quarter,” he explained.
He recommended that the government intensify its intervention initiatives and follow through on the cost reduction aspect of ease of doing business.
“There is urgent need to create a more friendly operating environment and deliberately support the productive sector in a strategic manner, setting priorities along the line of improved infrastructure, competitiveness and stronger industrial linkages,” he said.
