The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (NASME), Eke Ubiji, has placed the majority of the blame for the sudden rise in the number of collapsed and ailing companies in the country at the feet of the Federal Government.
According to him, these companies would not have shut down if they had received adequate support from the FG in terms of low rates on foreign exchange and supportive governmental policies. He explained that a total of 222 companies were ailing or had shut down within a year, which could have averted if proper measures had been taken by the FG.
According to Daily Trust, another stakeholder, Mr. Ambrose Oruche also blamed the FG’s lack of coherence in policy formulation for the sudden collapse of these companies, specifically citing exclusion of 41 items from accessing foreign exchange from the official markets by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a major factor behind the sad situation. He further explained that 50 companies had shut shop this year alone. This is an average of 7 companies each month.
These reactions were made known during the launch of the ‘Manufacturing Sector Survey in Nigeria: Industry Snapshot’ conducted by NOI POLLS and Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa. For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the NOIPOLLS organization, Dr. Bell Ihua, said their survey findings revealed that poor power supply, high cost of energy and difficulty in accessing funds and FX were the most important issues bothering manufacturers.
Parts of this article originally appeared in Daily Trust.
