Industry counts losses from Nigeria economic slump
LAGOS, (CAJ News) – Unfavourable foreign exchange rates, bad roads,unavailability of fuel, limited access to credit, policy inconsistency,lack of Infrastructure, unstable power supply and weak demand.
These have been cited as the top challenges facing the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
This is according to findings presented by NOIPolls, the polling firm, and Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), a non-profit think-tank.
The survey was conducted months before the recent announcement Nigeria,Africa’s biggest economy, had emerged from recession.
A total of 496 companies across 12 (of 36) states were surveyed.
Among the major findings, 74 percent of manufacturing companies found the business environment unsupportive in 2017.
The findings represent a 14-point increase from the 2016 result (60 percent), indicating a worsening of the business environment.
Similarly, lack of infrastructure, red-tape and corruption were identified as some of the structural bottlenecks stifling the business environment.
Some 85 percent of manufacturing companies surveyed are not operating up to 75 percent of their installed capacity, which has been attributed to weak demand (69 percent), poor power supply (58 percent), petrol/diesel unavailability (38 percent) and limited access to foreign exchange (26 percent).
Almost half of the companies interviewed (48 percent) considered importation of raw materials critical to their production,particularly medium to large manufacturing companies, with up to 62 percent of inputs imported.
Some 75 percent of companies said the disparity in foreign exchange rates had negative impact on their operations.
Similarly, 80 percent of the companies affirmed inflation had a negative effect on their businesses.
All companies interviewed affirmed the recession had impacted their operations and profitability.
– CAJ News
