The president and chief executive, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) have highlighted steps Nigeria must follow to industrialise the nation in the next decade.
Dangote, at the second Adeola Odutola lecture in commemoration of the 50th yearly general meeting of MAN, said, Nigeria needs to intensify efforts at promoting industrialisation with specific focus on the attainment of achieving 15 per cent manufacturing sector growth, 20 per cent manufacturing contribution to GDP and 15 per cent growth in export of manufactured products in the next ten years.
He also added that there is need for the nation’s manufacturing sector to achieve a 10 per cent increase in the share of manufacturing to total export merchandise, stronger inter-industry linkage between SMEs and large corporations, improved manufacturing contribution to government tax revenue and 20 per cent increase in manufacturing employment.
He advised that, to industrialise the nation and achieve the next decade target, there is an urgent need for investment in adequate infrastructure, pointing out that adequate infrastructure is the bedrock of industrialization.
He also called for the creation of a business-enabling policy framework, saying, inconsistencies and lack business friendly policy measures are major challenges in Nigeria,
Earlier, the president, MAN, Engr. Mansur Ahmed, said, over the years, the performance of the manufacturing sector has been constrained by familiar challenges that are clearly espoused in its numerous submissions to the government.
He lamented that, the increasing incidence of new tax heads payable by manufacturing concern has become a major threat to the survival of manufacturing companies in diverse ways and essentially responsible for the prevailing increase in the cost of doing business; reduction in investment inflow and additional pain points on manufacturers.
He noted that, extremely challenging for the manufacturing sector in recent years, is the issue of inadequate access to forex for importation of critical inputs that are not available locally.
The MAN boss also stressed that the sector has been contending with inadequate credit supply and high cost of borrowing for so long, maintaining that, the situation has grossly affected investment and utilisation of available capacity in the sector.
