By Cynthia Ezekwe
As an avenue to hedge risks from inflation, and avoid the negative growth trajectory witnessed in 2022, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has urged the government to adopt sustained intervention measures to enhance growth in the manufacturing sector of the country, and improve productivity.
The Chamber disclosed that the manufacturing sector recorded a lagging growth last year, as a result of scarcity of foreign exchange for imports, weakened consumer demand, high energy cost, logistical challenges, policy uncertainties, and harsh regulatory environment.
Speaking on the lagging growth, Chinyere Almona, LCCI’s director general, pointed out the shocks suffered by many economies in 2022, noting that projections and analysis of economic conditions across regional blocs predicts the likelihood of a recession or a significant slowdown of growth in 2023.
She also reaffirmed that local producers had urged the government to unveil incentives that would encourage and deepen local raw materials sourcing, especially in the form of backward integration.
According to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the manufacturing sector is generally faced with limited investment in domestic production of raw materials for utilisation in most of the sub-sectors, which is as result of limited funding and policy incentives in the country.
A report from MAN also disclosed that production was majorly limited by a lack of forex for the importation of raw materials that are not available in the country in all the sectoral groups, except for the food sub-sector which has undergone a significant level of backward integration.
