Manufacturing sector needs electricity to grow, says Ebi, Fidelity Bank chairman

Ernest Ebi, chairman of Fidelity Bank, says many industries have crumbled under the weight of huge energy cost as a result of the epileptic power supply in the country.

He said this while delivering a lecture at the convocation ceremony of Redeemer’s University in Ogun state.

Ebi said until the power problem in the country improves, the manufacturing sector would only record a little growth.

“Nigeria’s near-total dependency on imported manufactured goods, ranging from the simplest household consumer items to the most complex industrial inputs makes the economy very vulnerable to external shocks and this must be addressed for the nation to have a sustainable economic growth,” he said.

Ebi said Nigeria needs a “fundamental” transformation of the economy to feel the impact of ther exit from recession.

The chairman said such transformation should be focused on “creating jobs on a massive scale”.

“What the country needs at this time to sustain the exit from economic recession is a fundamental transformation of the economy that will address the structural economic imbalance, improve on institutional framework, ease of doing business, infrastructure, and strong private sector participation,” he said.

“Such a transformation should be focused on creating jobs on a massive scale and growing the economy from the bottom of the pyramid to avert the ticking time bomb of youth restiveness and unemployment.

“This will ensure inclusive economic growth that works for everybody, bridge the inequality gap, provide the enabling regulatory environment for the private sector to thrive and help prioritise the main drivers of the economy.

“There is no doubt that a key component of economic development and growth process of a nation is an increase in the country’s production, especially of its exportable goods and services. Accordingly, the pursuit of diversification of Nigeria’s monolithic economy should be with a bias to production (outright manufacture of new items or value addition to primary products) for local consumption and export.

“The well-implemented production based economy will lead to job creation, specialisation and gradual sophistication of products. All developed economies have these attributes as enablers to their sustainable economic development.”