Economic crisis: Manufacturers reducing procurement orders - MAN

The President of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sector of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Rotimi Aluko, has said that the harsh business environment in the country has forced some manufacturers to shut down operations while others have had to slash procurement orders.

He disclosed this at the annual general meeting of the group, which was held in Lagos on Tuesday.

According to Aluko, manufacturers have been weathering numerous classes and categories of economic storms that have challenged the real sector of the economy.

Those storms, he said, had crippled the sector and plunged it into a state of near-recession.

He said, “Several manufacturers and numerous businesses had to shut down their facilities while others grappled with slashed procurement orders.

“Anxieties wrought by uncertainties relating to the last general elections, starting from early pre-election activities through the elections proper earlier in the year and the subsisting post-election resolution issues, have also posed another major challenge to economic and manufacturing activities in the form of a major blow to business from which many economic sectors nationwide are still reeling.”

Speaking further, Aluko lamented that the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of exchange rates by the new government left a devastating mark on the manufacturing industry.

In his keynote presentation titled “Overcoming skills shortages and optimising supply chains”, the Managing Director and CEO of Tropical NaturaIs Ltd, Abiola Ogunrinde, said Nigeria was not producing sufficient numbers of workers with the skills that employers need.

He said, “We have too many young people without technical ability. In Nigeria, we prefer degrees over technical and vocational skills. Another problem is the mass exodus of skilled people, which we call japa.”