The economic situation in the country, coupled wth chronic scarcity of foreign exchange has seriously hampered several indigenous businesses, with some already relocating and others preparing to do so. Understanding that the relocation of these companies toother countries runs against the diversification initiative touted by the Federal Government (FG) as te solution to the over-dependence on oil, the House of Representatives yesterday decided to wade into the matter and take steps to dissuade local companies from relocating.
This was addressed in a motion ‘ on the need to investigate “the shutting down and planned relocation of agricultural value chain industries from the country owing to difficulties in sourcing foreign exchange” by Honorable Abubakar Amuda-Kannike.
Citing the decision of the CBN to allocate 60% of forex purchases to manufacturers as well as the recent Erisco debacle Amuda-Kannike said that it was imperative that the legislature look into this trend. Agreeing with Amuda-Kannike, the reps decided that the first step was to mandate its committees on Agricultural Production and Services and Banking and Currency to investigate the inability of agricultural value chain industries and others to access foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria with a view to averting the shutdown of operations, Leadership News reports.
The House further instructed the Committees to stimulate stakeholders involved including the CBN, the Bank of Industry and the Bank of Agriculture to increased collaboration which can in turn stimulate the sustainability of agricultural process companies in Nigeria.
