Manufacturers set to lay off workers
By Johnmark Ukoko
Indication has emerged that anytime from now many factory workers and their administrative counterparts who earn their living in the country’s manufacturing sector will be relieved of their jobs.
The Acting Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Mr. Ambrose Oruche who stated this while exchanging views with journalists in Lagos recently said the lack of forex in the country is biting the local manufacturers who depend on forex for their machineries and their imported raw materials.
Oruche disclosed that many factories who were running their machines for 24 hours per day now runs for few hours for some days due to lack of imported raw materials.
According to him, the fallout of the COVID – 19 which started early in 2020 has affected the forex available to the country, stressing that most of their members were unable to source their required forex to import the machines and raw materials they needed; hence they now run their plants for few hours per day.
The MAN boss lamented that the apex bank is unable to meet the forex needs of the local manufacturers, adding that would lead to the sack of many factories workers any time from now.
He maintained that the apex bank doesn’t give priority to the country’s manufacturing sector in the area of forex allocation, adding that this has led to why many local manufacturing companies now struggle to access forex to import their raw materials and their machines.
“What do you expect the local manufacturers who can’t access forex to import their needed machines and raw materials to do? Should they keep their factory workers who don’t have raw materials to work with?” he asked.
He hinted that the country’s Real sector contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has gone down to about 10 percent due to lack of support to the sector by the government and the CBN.
The MAN boss appealed to the government and the CBN to support the manufacturing sector more in order for the country not to rely on imported products.
