As Nigeria commemorated its 66th independence anniversary on Thursday, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has charged the Federal Government to prioritize the manufacturing sector and households’ reliefs in its reform initiatives with a view to achieving inclusive growth and positioning the nation’s economy on the path of sustainable growth in the years ahead.
Giving the charge in a statement issued on Wednesday, President of LCCI, Engr. Leye Kupoluyi, noted that though the government’s ongoing economic reforms had produced encouraging signs of macroeconomic stabilisation, the next phase must focus on competitiveness and productivity and job creation particularly in the industrial sector, stressing that macroeconomic stability will have little meaning unless it translates into lower production costs, higher investment and more jobs.
Specifically, the LCCI President advocated: “Manufacturing must become the centerpiece of Nigeria’s job-creation strategy. The LCCI considers manufacturing one of the most important channels through which Nigeria can convert economic growth into mass employment, higher productivity, and improved household incomes.
“Manufacturing growth has shown signs of improvement, but the sector remains constrained by energy costs, inadequate infrastructure, expensive credit, foreign exchange exposure, weak domestic supply chains, and competition from imported products”, he added.
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According to him, to reverse the ugly trend, the government should therefore move from isolated interventions to a comprehensive industrial competitiveness programme built around five priorities, namely reliable and affordable energy by fast-tracking the implementation of the power-sector reforms and create dedicated industrial power solutions, while improving gas supply to industrial clusters; and affordable long-term finance by expanding development-finance instruments, credit guarantees, and blended-finance mechanisms targeted at manufacturing, agro-processing, and MSMEs.
Others are predictable trade and tariff policies to provide greater certainty on tariffs, import restrictions, and customs procedures while ensuring that trade policies support domestic production without creating artificial shortages; local supply-chain development in order to promote the domestic production of industrial inputs, packaging materials, machinery, chemicals, agricultural inputs, and other intermediate goods required by manufacturers; and development and rehabilitate industrial parks, economic clusters, roads, rail connections, ports, and logistics infrastructure to reduce the cost of moving goods.
The renowned power sector expert stressed that “we need to produce more in Nigeria, employ more Nigerians, and reduce the country’s dependence on imported goods.”
To make the business environment more investment-friendly, the LCCI urged the Federal Government to make the next phase of economic reform more firmly centered on competitiveness and productivity through sustained programme of regulatory reform.
The LCCI President stated: “We commend the recent launch of the government services portal, services.gov.ng, and call for its optimal operation to deliver government services more efficiently and affordably to businesses. Businesses should be able to register, obtain licenses, pay taxes, import inputs, export products, access finance, and resolve commercial disputes without excessive administrative delays and costs.”
As per the recommendations of the organized private sector group on measures to provide reliefs to households in the face of the general pricing level in the economy, the Chamber tasked the government to implement a targeted package of immediate measures to provide relief to households while addressing the structural causes of high prices.
To reduce transportation fares, it also advised the government to intensify measures to expand mass transit, improve public transportation infrastructure through the rollout of CNG and electric vehicles, and support the more efficient movement of food and essential commodities from production areas to urban markets.
On the imperativeness of strengthening food production and distribution nationwide, Engr. Kupoluyi also expressed the OPS advocacy group’s position, stating that “the immediate priority should be to increase food supply and reduce post-harvest losses through investment in irrigation, storage, rural roads, agricultural inputs, security, and market infrastructure.
“We can boost food production by focusing more on poultry and fisheries, agro-processing to add value to primary commodities, and supporting food supply logistics from farms to markets. The government should also facilitate the movement of food from surplus-producing areas to deficit markets and remove unnecessary restrictions and bottlenecks along major food corridors”, he added.
Reflecting on the rising energy costs at industrial and domestic levels, the LCCI President urged the government to pursue measures to reduce the transmission of global energy price shocks to domestic consumers and businesses, including improving domestic crude supply to local refineries, strengthening refinery operations, expanding domestic gas utilization, and accelerating investment in alternative energy solutions.
In addition, he maintained that to protect the purchasing power of workers, government and employers should continue to engage in mechanisms to improve real incomes, particularly for low- and middle-income workers. Wage adjustments should be accompanied by productivity improvements and measures that reduce the cost of essential goods and services.
In his concluding remarks, Engr. Kupoluyi stated that in order to strengthen targeted social protection, rather than broad and fiscally expensive subsidies, the government should strengthen targeted interventions for the most vulnerable households, including food assistance, transport support, and other carefully designed social protection programmes. Import waivers for critical production inputs can reduce inflation in targeted sectors.
