Current economy not favourable to manufacturers

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March 8, 2016 1:25 PM

Herbert Wigwe, Managing Director Access Bank PLC during the Nigerian Economic Summit in Lagos on Monday, February 8, 2016 highlighted that due the scarcity of forex, manufacturers are unable to but raw materials.

Manufacturers are facing hard times

Wigwe further added that though manufacturers are facing hard time but he believes the way out is for Nigeria to support the supply side of forex and liberalise the market.

Read: 'We will sell FX to CBN by 2020, generate about 12,000mw of electricity by 2018,' Dangote says

“We have a lot of manufacturers who have to rely on forex for their raw materials but who are going through tough times. However, are there opportunities? I believe there are. I think it is time for us to move towards import-substitution. But I think we need to do things to support the supply side of forex and liberalise the market.

“Even for those who have to source their raw materials locally, there is a value chain effect. If the entire value chain in a production process is not sorted out, we will have a problem. So, access to foreign currencies for raw materials is important. However, it is important that people start looking at how to use local raw materials to produce,” he said.

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