- Increase Exports, SCL Urges Manufacturers
A logistics company, Simplified Corporate Logistics, has called on manufacturers in Nigeria to grow their businesses from the level of attracting investors to increasing exports for economic growth.
The company’s Managing Director, Nduka Udehat, made the call at a press conference to mark the commencement of this year’s Manufacturing Partnership for African Development exhibition in Lagos.
Udehat, who was represented by company’s Head of Operations, Mrs. Bisola Esan, also identified some factors that affect growth of businesses in Nigeria, especially small and medium businesses.
According to a statement on Friday, Esan pointed out that as much as importation and exportation were indispensable to Nigerian businesses, so was the need to pay a special attention to factors such as difficulty in sourcing dollars to buy raw materials, machinery and spare parts.
Esan, in a paper titled, ‘Simplifying the import and export process’, identified other factors to include delay in clearing of goods at the air and seaports, unreliable shipping agents, high overall procurement cost, occasional difficulty in engaging trustworthy suppliers from different countries and limited knowledge of the importation and exportation business.One of the keynote speakers at the exhibition, Mr. Paul Gbededo, emphasised the need for manufactures to move from producing enough for their families and the nation to having more than enough to export to other countries.