The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has appealed to President Tinubu to order the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to liquidate outstanding FX forward obligations owed manufacturers as a step towards supporting manufacturing companies to meet their FX obligations and boost their productivity.
The President of the association, Francis Meshioye, who made the appeal at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ikeja Branch of the association on Wednesday in Lagos, maintained that the non-liquidation of the FX forward over the past year remained a concern for industrialists despite improvements in FX market stability.
The industrialist explained that the outstanding obligations represented valid contractual commitments and urged the Federal Government to pay the backlogs in order to restore credibility, boost investor confidence, and demonstrate that Nigeria honours its contracts.
Meshioye clarified: “While we acknowledge improvements in FX market stability, the issue of outstanding FX forward obligations owed to manufacturers by the CBN remains unresolved. These obligations represent valid contractual commitments.”
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According to him, the FX forward backlog has been on for too long, despite sustained efforts by the MAN to offset it.
Also, the industrialist expressed the association’s concern over the rising influx of smuggled and substandard goods into the country in view of the negative implications for domestic manufacturing capacity.
To address the menace, Meshioye urged the government to strengthen border surveillance and equip regulatory agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), with the logistics and other operational tools needed to tackle the problem.
While urging the border agencies on the need for strict enforcement of existing merchandise trade laws without compromise, the MAN President stressed that stronger border surveillance and enforcement would help protect legitimate manufacturers from unfair competition while safeguarding consumers from potentially harmful or substandard goods.
He lamented that Nigerian manufacturers today were operating under very strenuous conditions, battling high interest rates, rising energy costs, poor and, in some cases, non-existent infrastructure, and multiple taxation, all of which he said are detrimental to their survival.
The industrialist clarified: “The operating environment today is defined by high interest rates and unsustainable energy costs. Monetary policy tightening has pushed lending rates to prohibitive levels. At the same time, erratic power supply and multiple taxation are eroding competitiveness. If we want manufacturers and the real sector to survive, it bears repeating that these problems must be tackled head-on.”
