Pharmatex founder, Nebe, lists core challenges of Nigerian manufacturers’
Managing Director of Pharmatex Industries, Prince Christopher Obiora Nebe, has unveiled core challenges of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, saying government has a lot to do to deepen ease of doing manufacturing business.
According to him, the real issues hobbling production business in Nigeria include but not limited to exchange rate instability, heavy import duty/taxes and deficiency of infrastructure and business enabling environment.
Business Hilights recalls that before Nebe’s discovery of Pharmatex, he had been the sole representative of a multinational pharmaceutical company in Nigeria – Hovid Industries.
Giving insights on how exchange rate challenges frustrate businesses, he said “Naira exchange rate has been hectic. Initially, when we started this business, it was fine because there was stability in exchange rate and you can work with a stable rate, whether high or low. But let it be stable because stability matters”.
Continuing, he queried that when you don’t know what the exchange rate will be, how do you plan?
In his opinion, “In the last two years, it has been terrible. We have managed to scale through but a lot of people closed up, while others retrenched some staff. We were just managing, struggling but it was tough for us to really manage the situation. So, I think the issue of rate stability is important. It was fine before now. The problem started two years ago. Right now, it is becoming stable and things are coming back to normalcy”.
