LCCI laments over inflation, forex scarcity hitting businesses hard

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has again groan over the inflationary pressures and foreign exchange scarcity, which they said have significantly impacted the operating costs of businesses in Nigeria.

This was disclosed by the President, LCCI, Toki Mabogunje, on Thursday, June 24, in Lagos at a roundtable on the ease of doing business.

Mabogunje said: “The quality of the investment climate is critical for productivity and competitiveness in an economy. We commend the PEBEC Secretariat for this accomplishment. We appreciate that matters relating to the business environment is work in progress.

“Meanwhile, businesses and investors are still grappling with several structural, policy and regulatory challenges, which have kept the cost of doing business elevated.”

According to her, access to domestic and international financing opportunities, particularly among Small and Medium Enterprise, is still limited, despite the accommodative policy stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The LCCI president disclosed that just a few SMEs benefited from the low-interest rate regime in the previous year.

In her words “Similarly, the combination of domestic inflationary pressure coupled with foreign exchange illiquidity has significantly impacted operating costs with serious implications for profitability.

“The huge deficits in public infrastructure, heightening insecurity, weakening purchasing power, inefficiencies at the ports are some of the other challenges faced by the business community.”

She posited that the ease of doing business is a key consideration for local and international investments, and evidence has shown a strong correlation between ease of doing business and private investment flows.

Mabogunje said explained that it would be almost impossible to attract and retain private investments without an enabling environment.

“No private enterprise can scale, expand, and create new job opportunities if the environment is not investment-friendly. A supportive and conducive environment is needed to accelerate the pace of economic recovery, regain investor confidence, attract fresh investments, and generate employment opportunities,” she said.