Nigeria Manufacturing Investment Drops N1.3trn

The crisis in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector showed its biting ugly head last year, as new investments in different areas of the sector went down massively by N1.31 trillion.

According to the latest economic review released by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), investments in the ten broad industries of the manufacturing sector nosedived from N2.07 trillion in 2013 to N691.81 billion in 2014, representing a 65.4 percent drop.

 

The new investments were made in land and building, plants and machinery, furniture and equipment, motor vehicle and in assets under construction, MAN says.

Two key factors responsible for this crash are a continuing tougher investment environment and the fever characterising the 2014 general election, which pulled back investors from the economy.

ECOWAS Tariff takes off as Manufacturing Suffers

Thirty-eight days into the implementation of the Common External Tariff (CET), Nigeria’s manufacturing sector is beginning to feel the pinch as the new regime makes imported finished products cheaper than locally manufactured goods.

 

Currently, local drug manufacturers who import raw materials for domestic production pay as much as 20 percent duty, while importers of finished products from other countries pay no duty.