The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that Nigeria is losing its foothold on the West African market due to the closure of the country’s border with Benin Republic since August 2019.
MAN, in a statement at the weekend signed by Mansur Ahmed, its president, said some manufacturers exporting to neighbouring African countries had to close down their export segments due to the border closure which has discouraged long-term investments and affected the economy.
This confirms BusinessDay’s series of stories showing Nigeria losing its foothold in West and Central Africa, and many companies shedding jobs, revenues and profits due to the controversial closure of the border.
In an article ‘Nigeria facing the reality of futile border closure on soaring food prices, low agric output’ published on Wednesday, November 25, 2020, for instance, BusinessDay reported that a year and three months after the border closure, the country was battling acute food insufficiency, which appears to be even worse off than before the borders were closed.
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Ahmed said major players in the beverages, polypropylene, bags, tobacco, cement, toiletries and cosmetics industries are losing markets they had worked very hard to secure in the West and Central African region.
“This is a position that Nigeria has hoped to leverage on to secure a strong position in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which kicks off in January 2021,” he said.
He pointed out that the challenge occasioned by the land border closure is detrimental to many manufacturers and not just a handful, stressing the need to treat all the players equally.
The border has been shut in the last 14 months to cut down smuggling of rice and petrol. While it favours farmers and some firms, it disfavours many others.
Also, Dangote Group, BUA Group and an unnamed gas company had been given the approval to export products through the land borders, attracting criticisms from the private sector.
“Hence rather than being selective in the approval for operation, the Association strongly recommends that in the interest of the growth and development of the nation’s economy, all manufacturers should be granted access of operation via the land borders,” Ahmed said.
In view of tackling the initial problem hinted by government on the shutting of the land borders, Ahmed called for a holistic approach that would address the root cause of the problem and provide mutually reinforcing solutions, rather than a border closure which is not a sustainable solution to the challenge of trade distortions and abuse of economic protocols by neighbouring countries in the region.
“It is important to establish joint border patrols with neighbouring countries involving police, customs, immigration, navy and state security services of the countries,” Ahmed suggested.
“Invest in new technology that will improve accountability and transparency and enhance efficiency in the operations of customs services,” he said.
He urged the Nigerian government to strengthen the coordination among the regulatory agencies to ensure that they share trade information and timely review trade policies.
He also urged the government to diplomatically engage the governments of Niger and Benin Republic on trade data-sharing and ensure that containers in transit to Nigeria are not offloaded into trucks and smuggled into Nigeria.
He further called for the establishment of a clear and enforceable legal and regulatory framework with stiffer penalties to deter potential offenders.
