The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has disclosed that barley two weeks after the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said foreign exchange allocation to the real sector would be increased to 60 per cent, banking are not complying with the directive.
The group has equally joined the league of campaigners for the sale of national assets to raise fund to fight recession and ensure efficiency in their operations.
The manufacturers say members are yet to benefit from the 60 per cent allocation by CBN and further accused the apex bank of discordant tunes.
In a briefing to herald 2016 ‘Manufacturers Yearly Lecture’, President, MAN, Dr. Frank Jacobs, reiterated that government should reduce some of its shareholding on national assets.
2016 Manufacturer’s Yearly Lecture is holding today in Abuja. With the theme: ‘Diversifying the Nigerian Economy: The role of Government in manufacturing’, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare the lecture open with the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is also expected to deliver a speech as the guest speaker.
The lecture is an advocacy platform designed for experts and chief executives of manufacturing concerns in Nigeria to review the performance of the sector and appraise the state of the economy in the past year.
Commenting on the government’s planned sale of NLNG, he described the firm as a profitable company, government has huge share of 51 per cent which is managed efficiently by the private sector. If government reduces equity from some of these assets, they would function properly. Both foreign and local investors have lost confidence in doing business in the country, if reduction of national assets would bring back investors that would be a laudable initiative.
“We are engaging CBN on the forex allocation, although we have not really benefitted from it but that does not mean that the government is not sensitive to our course,” he said.
The manufacturing experts said it is going to take a lot to bring the country out of recession and government must now get its acts right and strategic too.
While pointing out that if government can take some of MAN’s recommendations by reducing ownership of companies, undertake building of infrastructure and come out with clear prescriptions on how private sector can drive the economy, the country would profit, he called for caution.
