Manufacturers, industrialists offer solutions to economic problems

THE Organised Private Sector (OPS) has told the Federal Government that it will require policy consistency and coherence to drag the economy out of its present quagmire.

This was part of the position it advocated in a  paper presented on its behalf by president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Frank Udemba Jacobs, during the second edition of the Presidential Economic Forum presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.

While throwing its weight behind government’s push for economic diversification and resource-based industrialisation policy, it said: “We, however, advocate policy consistency and coherence in order to achieve sustainability of this policy thrust.”

The OPS equally urged the government to continue to dialogue with the various stakeholders, with a view to articulating more appropriate fiscal and monetary policy incentives that would ensure the realisation of the goal of economic diversification.

The sector said it was aware of the current state of the economy and the effort the Federal Government was making to revive it.

It commended the government for the effort at curbing the security challenges the nation had been encountering and the determination to rid the country of the destructive menace of corruption.

OPS particularly commended the government for the diversification initiative and for the resource-based industrialisation policy which the government had adopted.

It noted that these policies were pivotal to the resuscitation of the economy, assuring that the sector was fully in support of government’s efforts and would offer any assistance possible to get the country out of the current economic problem.

The OPS, however, highlighted what it said were major issues of concern which could hinder the realisation of the objectives of reviving the economy; revitalising the industrial sector; growing MSMEs and creating employment for its citizenry.

According to the OPS, the challenges also included access to foreign exchange by the real sector, which it said had been a major challenge to businesses in the last two years.

Noting the effort of government to resolve the issue, it said the challenge this policy was presently facing was inadequate monitoring mechanism to ensure that the policy achieved its desired result of allocating the stipulated percentage of forex to bona fide manufacturers.

The OPS noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) list of 41 items made up of 440 tariff lines, saying that 31 out of the CBN list of items not valid for forex contained 393 tariff lines which were finished products.

The OPS suggested that those finished products might be retained on the list of items excluded from the official foreign exchange market.

It observed that the remaining 10 items of 47 tariff lines were essential industrial raw materials that were either not readily available locally or there was a yawning gap between local production and national demand.

It recalled that its position was made known to the Presidential Reconciliation Committee on this matter through the Minister of Finance in 2016.

The OPS posited: “Government, through the CBN, should ensure that the 60 per cent concessionary forex allocation to the manufacturing sector for raw materials and machinery importation is strictly implemented.

“The list of 41 items banned by the CBN from accessing forex in the interbank forex market should be reviewed, with the aim of removing raw materials components that cannot be sourced locally.”

While welcoming participants to the forum, Osinbajo reiterated that the main plan of the present administration was the sustenance of the robust private sector partnership.

He said: “Indeed, it is our strong belief that sustainable economic growth is only possible if it is private sector-led and a great of attention has been paid as you will possibly find in sustaining private sector leadership, especially in the plan of economic recovery and growth plan 2017 to be launched next month.

“The pivot of that plan is the private sector-led recovery growth and plan.

“So, this forum is an important one for engendering the continuous engagement that this partnership will entail.”