Naira Scarcity: Manufacturers Decry 25% Sales Decrease, Urge FG’s Urgent Intervention

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN has lamented the effect of naira scarcity on its members, saying that sales of manufactured goods dropped by 25 percent.

The association called on the federal government to urgently and permanently put an end to the challenging situation caused by the introduction of new naira notes and its scarcity.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir expressing the plight of manufacturers.

The manufacturers noted that their businesses had been badly hit by the current cash crunch, adding that it affected the turnout of workers which brought about low output and more than 25 percent decrease in income.

Investors King learnt that the Manufacturers Association President, Otunba Francis Meshioye had last month warned against the impending negative effect of the naira scarcity on manufacturers.

He mentioned that the sales of manufactured goods will significantly drop which is presently playing out. 

Speaking on digital banking services, the MAN president said online transactions including the use of point of service, POS has not been working effectively thereby making the sales process slow.

Meshioye stated that the nation’s economy has also been negatively impacted which may scare present and potential investors from investing in the country as they are particular about what their resources would yield.

“I want to assume that this is a very short-term problem. It is general. Even if you want to do e-banking, there are some things you cannot do at the moment. We have problems. PoS is not working.

“There is no way the scarcity of something that is essential to the consumer will not affect the producer. We feel it because it hinders the proper flow of our goods to the end user. What effect is that going to have? It means we will pile stock and when we pile stock, it means cash is trapped. We pay high interest rates and they would not yield good returns and investments go to where returns come regularly.

“This is a very big issue in the economy. If you put all these together, you will agree with me that we are really facing a critical time as manufacturers,” he stated.