- Manufacturers Still Battling With Basic Facilities – MAN
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has decried the poor state of infrastructure in the country, noting that the manufacturing sector is still plagued by myriad challenges with infrastructure being the most worrisome.
The President, MAN, Frank Jacobs, said despite the huge employment opportunities created by the sector, it was still not given the necessary support and encouragement it deserved.
The MAN boss stated this in Lagos on Wednesday at a press briefing to herald the association’s forthcoming 46th Annual General Meeting/3rd Manufacturers Annual Lecture.
“We hope that things would improve to take the sector to its desired position,” he said.
He however stated that the scheduled AGM and manufacturers’ annual lecture/presidential luncheon scheduled for September 26 and 27 in Lagos would provide opportunity for experts and chief executives of manufacturing concerns in Nigeria to evaluate the performance of the manufacturing sector in the past one year.
According to him, the event will feature open interactive session involving the chief executive officer of Bureau of Public Procurement, procurement officers of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government as well as manufacturers.
He added that the forum would focus on port infrastructure and access to credit, and gave the theme of the lecture/presidential luncheon as “Mainstreaming Policies to Catalyse Industrial Renaissance”.
The theme, Jacobs said, was born out of the need to appraise the performance of industry’s policy initiatives, with a view to ensuring that they were positively aligned to the industrial aspirations and overall economic development agenda of the nation.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to attend the event as the special guest of honour while Nana Akufo-Addo, President, Republic of Ghana will be the guest speaker,” he said.
The MAN president also said that the association intended to use the AGM to present a vivid picture of the current realities of operating businesses especially manufacturing in Nigeria; showcase novel innovations and made-in-Nigeria products as well as collectively agree on workable survival strategies.
