January 04, (THEWILL) – The North East branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, has held its annual general meeting, which brought participants from the eight component states together in Jos.
Held under the theme, “Striving in a Challenging Economy: Impact on Manufacturing,” the meeting reviewed the 2023 fiscal environment, especially against the factors of naira redesign and rising inflation cum unstable exchange rate regime, and noted that it was a particularly challenging year for the manufacturing subsector.
In his welcome address, the MAN branch chairman, Alhaji Shehu S. Nyalun, said, “Our choice of this year’s theme was meticulously considered to articulate and harness the way forward in a challenging economy such as ours, arising from subsidy removal and its impact on manufacturing in a complex economy.”
Shehu stated further “If subsidy removal and the exchange rate regime are not addressed, some companies would not survive these challenges, with the scary implication that such companies will close or go out of production.” He, therefore, called on the government at all levels to work towards ensuring a conducive business environment to enhance global competition and the production of local content.
In his address, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Otumba Francis Meshioye, who was represented by the Vice President, Dr Mhir Aii Iyenge, commended the resilience and resourcefulness of the members, acknowledging that the outgone business year was a turbulent one characterised by policies and policy direction that did not output growth and profitability.
Meshioye, however, called on members to be creative and embrace more cost-effective approaches and promises this business year as he expects the Federal Government to show a friendly outlook in terms of taxes and rebates.
Speaking on the theme of the AGM, the guest Speaker, Nde Ezekiel Gomos, a one-time secretary to the Plateau State Government and Economic Adviser to the immediate past government in Plateau State, noted that the view of the World Bank is that the economic policies and reforms of the present administration, “if faithfully implemented by the team assembled to drive the national economy, the manufacturing sector, hopefully, will survive and turn the corner.”
Gomos noted further that “Nigeria is part of the global economy which, according to the World Economic Forum, has been under significant pressure from multiple, complex and interconnected challenges.”
According to Gomos, these challenges include factors such as climate change, inequalities in income and wealth, the wars in Europe and the Middle East, COVID-19 pandemic distortions, and worsening debt vulnerability of developing countries, leading to what experts have branded as “polycrisis”.
The Executive Secretary of MAN in charge of the zone, Austin Egili, in his executive briefs, admitted that “the operating environment of the branch did not experience significant improvement during the year under review due to high energy costs, increased taxes, Forex shortage, and infrastructural decadence”.
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