Daily Sun reports that unless the Federal Government intervenes, many workers in the cable manufacturing industry will soon lose their job, a situation that is compounded by the influx of substandard products into the country.
President of Cable Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CAMAN) and Chief Executive Officer of Cutix Plc, Nnewi, Anambra State, Mr. Ifeanyi Uzodike, revealed this yesterday in an interactive session with journalists. He described as worrisome a situation where the cable manufacturers cannot purchase major raw materials for their production as a result of difficulty in accessing foreign exchange due to the new policy of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“The new policy of CBN on foreign exchange is affecting our business. We cannot source our major raw materials like copper rod and aluminium rod locally and it is unfortunate that we cannot easily access foreign exchange to import them, and even where we are lucky to get, it takes as long as one month. “The summary of it is that if nothing is done urgently, most of us will cut our staff strength and production capacity by over 50 per cent. This industry deals with power and power is vital to all sectors. You need power to drive the economy especially in this era of dwindling oil revenue,” Uzodike said.
According to Daily Sun, the CAMAN President further stated that at the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), government gave out turnkey projects to some individuals and they were allowed to import duty-free goods to the country.
The net effect, according to him, was that most of the materials were substandard. Responding to questions as to whether the association had drawn the attention of CBN to the foreign exchange issue, he said the association did but that there was no positive action taken yet, even though he agreed that the Ministry of Industry invited them for discussions and they had not taken further action.
Daily Sun further reports that the Cutix Plc boss appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and all other relevant agencies of the government to come to the rescue of the industry to save it from collapse. At the AGM of Cutix Plc, the first company east of the Niger to be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Chairman, Mr. David Ifezulike, said the urgency of government intervention was necessary to avoid compounding the woes already experienced in the sector as a result of inaccessibility of foreign exchange for the procurement of raw materials.
Ifezulike listed other challenges of the company to include multiple taxation, non-appliance of local content and the influx of substandard cables into the country.
Also buttressing CAMAN’s president’s view, the National Vice President of the Breadfruit Elders Association, Mr. Ayankayode Obalalaro, suggested that a rights issue be offered for an additional capital to be ejected into the company, which he said had the right board members and management.
He said that in the face of dwindling oil revenue, boosting the revenue of the non-oil sector through the power sector remains the best alternative.
He therefore appealed to the government to look into the challenges of CAMAN and do something urgently to arrest any impending danger that may hamper the growth of the industry and by extension, the economy. (Daily Sun)