Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Inaugurates Large Corporation Group to Boost Manufacturing in Nigeria

The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (http://www.ManufacturersNigeria.org) has inaugurated its Large Corporation Group, which will amongst other things come up with policy recommendations that will lead to a conducive economic and social climate for the operation and development for large scale industries in Nigeria.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, MAN’s President Mr. Frank Udemba said one of the most crucial tasks before the Large Corporation Group is the facilitation effective linkage between small/medium scale industries and large scale industries in the production and supply value chain. Mr. Udemba said linkage is critical in the task of making Nigeria a manufacturing hub in the sub region and beyond.

On her part, the Minister of State for Trade and Industry Hajia Aisha Abubakar said the Federal Government was committed to creating the enabling environment for manufacturing to thrive in the country and that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) is government’s strategic partner in achieving this task. She said the tough conditions that manufacturer’s face in Nigeria notably inadequate power was a top priority for the present administration.

The event was sponsored by global digital industrial technology company – General Electric (GE) (www.GE.com), which made a presentation on GE’s Gas to Power solutions focusing on the use of LPG as a reliable and available fuel source for power generation. The integrated solution will go a long way in addressing a number of the energy needs of Nigerian manufacturers. During his presentation, Dr Christoph Reimnitz emphasized the availability of competitively priced LPG via GE’s fuel partner Vitol.

At the panel session on “Powering Manufacturing in Nigeria without Power”, the President and CEO of GE Nigeria Dr Lazarus Angbazo said the power deficit in Nigeria requires concerted co-operation of all stakeholders in the Power ecosystem. According to him, “there is no foreseeable way of boosting manufacturing in Nigeria without fixing the power sector”.  Other panelists who spoke in similar vein were the CEO of British American Tobacco Mr. Chris Allister and the Vice President of MAN Engineer Ibrahim Usman. They agreed that the recent tariff increase to make the discos more bankable was a step in the right direction in attracting needed funding.

The panelists also recommended distributed/embedded power as a short term solution to addressing the power shortfall in the country.