Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said that with deliberate policy of the government through incentives, the real sector would become more viable than trading.
The Chairman of MAN, Apapa Branch, Engr Frank Onyebu, who disclosed this to Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria, in Lagos Wednesday, explained that entrepreneurs would only invest in an economy where they are sure of getting maximum returns on investment in the short-term.
Onyebu said, “The real sector of the economy can be revived by a deliberate policy of government through incentives to make the sector more viable than trading”.
According to him, entrepreneurs would usually invest in businesses where they can get the maximum returns within the shortest possible time. “Therefore if enough incentives are provided, investors will move in droves to exploit the opportunities provided”
He noted that the government should make business environment friendly enough to attract even foreign investors into the sector.
The MAN Chairman said agriculture is another sector that needs reviving, lamenting that It’s a shame that Nigerians have not exploited even 10 percent of the opportunities in the agricultural sector.
“It’s upsetting when you travel along our highways and find stretches upon stretches of fallow lands which could easily be turned into farmlands. It’s even more disappointing when you realise that the individuals who should be ploughing these lands are wasting in our cities looking for non-existent white-collar jobs” he said.
He said that the government has to provide incentives to our youths to get involved in farming. “The government can do this by providing basic amenities in the villages, providing subsidized farming implements, including machineries, fertilizer”
Onyebu explained that ndustries will ultimately spring up in such villages to take advantage of available outputs from these farms.
On FDI, the MAN Boss stated that the government should work on drastically improving the Ease of Doing Business, saying that registration process should be simplified, efficiency should be instituted as a habit, and information should be easily available.
He maintained that there should also be consistency in government policies, harping that corruption should be completely eliminated.
Commenting on security, he advised that conscious measures be put in place to improve the security situation in the country, insisting that most investors would think twice about investing in a country with seemingly insurmountable security challenges.
“MAN plays the twin role of advising the government and advocating the cause of manufacturers. The Association guides the government in the formulation of policies that advance the cause of manufacturers which ultimately helps the government through revenue generation, employment creation and economic growth.