MAN: Government officials must face consequences for making policies that ruin businesses

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director-general (DG) of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), says government officials must face consequences for making policies that ruin businesses.

Ajayi-Kadir spoke on Tuesday during a forum themed ‘Nigeria’s Challenging Economy: Strategies For Recovery,’ organised by Channels Television to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th Independence anniversary.

He emphasised the need for consequences when policies lead to economic setbacks for industries.

“There must be consequence for government officials who make policies that ruin businesses,” Ajayi-Kadir said.

“I mean, you make a policy today, it becomes a disaster for industry and government simply changes it, and you walk away. We don’t have this luxury in the private sector.

“If you make a mistake, your business is gone, and you could distrain your property. So I think we need to see that movement also on the part of government.”

He said the challenges caused by the ongoing rise in interest rates should be alleviated.

The DG said borrowing at rates of 30-35 percent makes it nearly impossible for businesses to survive, particularly in an economy where consumer purchasing power has drastically declined.

“We should be able to assuage the challenges we are having with continuously raising interest rates,” he said.

“You’ve done it for more than 18 months plus, and you’ve not done any impact assessment on the productive sector.

“I think you need to be able to insulate that sector so that you can inflate the economy.”

‘THERE’S NEED FOR INDUSTRIAL POLICY’

Ajayi-Kadir said there is a need for an industrial policy to guide the government’s approach to industrialisation.

According to the DG, the policy would promote better coordination between key government ministries such as the ministry of industry, trade, and investment, the ministry of finance, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“I must say that policy coordination is extremely important for us because you can’t operate in such a way that you don’t know what to expect tomorrow,” he said.

“It will basically define where we want to be, and it will guide our operations.”

He also questioned the effectiveness of Nigeria’s embassies abroad, calling for key performance indicators (KPIs) aimed at facilitating foreign market penetration for Nigerian products and attracting foreign investments.

While commending the efforts of Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Ajayi-Kadir called for a more deliberate government policy, urging the government to avoid playing politics with economic policies.

Also, Ajayi-Kadir advocated for a coordinated approach with clear expectations, deliverables, and accountability measures to ensure that the government and industry move in the same direction.

‘FG SHOULD LOOK BEYOND OIL SALE TO GET FX’

Ajayi-Kadir said Nigeria does not need to rely solely on oil sale for foreign exchange (FX), urging the government to diversify its revenue streams, particularly by tapping into the potential of diaspora remittances.

“We don’t really also have to depend on the sale of oil for us to be able to get forex. First, we must realise all the income that we can get from oil and we shouldn’t have any impediments, whether human, structural, or system-imposed. I mean, we should be clear about it. It’s our natural resource,” he said.

“We should fully recover all the forex that we can get from there. We need to address the issue of diaspora remittance that has a very great potential of bringing in far more forex than Nigeria is receiving. Those ones can help to address the foreign exchange challenges that we have.

“There’s one presently that I still cannot understand why we’ve not been able to overcome it and it’s the N2.4 billion unredeemed forwards with the CBN.”

The DG also said the FX exposure has caused massive losses for manufacturers.

“I believe that it will require the intervention of Mr. President, because I have a member, for instance, who has lost N7.2 billion because of this forex exposure for no fault of his and eight of our members, because of the forex exposure, have actually lost 918 billion in the last one year,” he said.

Ajayi-Kadir said addressing the pressing issues does not require new laws or executive orders but a coordinated effort to resolve FX challenges.