The Nation Newspaper

Tag: manufacturing

  • Manufacturing will reduce poverty, says survey

    POVERTY can only be reduced if the manufacturing sector is rejuvenated, a survey has shown.

    According to the survey, a stable macro-economy cannot translate to poverty reduction, where there is lack of infrastructure, irregular power supply and an unsound industrial policy.

    The research was conducted by Dr. Chukwuma Agu, Dr. Hyacinth Ichoku and Dr. John Ataguba of the African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) . They investigated some households and their economic status.

    The researchers said as commendable as the government’s efforts to provide 3.5 million jobs in the agriculture, housing construction, solid minerals, aviation and the creative industries is, the inability of the government to grow the manufacturing sector would make the vision impossible.

    The research was commissioned by African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). It showed how the public sector has been crowding out the private sector, and how the much- talked about growth in the country is non-existent.

    The report listed factors that impact poverty to include household size, agricultural employment, geo-political cultural and religious peculiarities, deepening human capital. and corruption.

    The work also examines the impact of sector of employment and selected demographic indicators at the household level.

    Estimates, according to the report,were obtained for national level data and data from the six geopolitical zones. Determinants of poverty and inequality used in the study included both macro indicators and micro variables. And the findings are as interesting.

    “For example, the work found that household size, region of origin and sector of employment are some of the most important determinants of the probability of a household being poor in Nigeria,” Agu said.

    He added that many African countries that have posted high positive growth rates in the last decade have also seen significant rise in poverty.

    He said: “Between 2004 and 2010 (a period of less than seven years), the proportion of Nigerians living in absolute poverty jumped from 54 per cent to 70 per cent. This is despite the fact that the country has grown at about seven per cent consistently for nearly one decade and has also designed a plethora of poverty reduction strategies at all tiers of government. Though it has always been known that growth is not always a sufficient condition for poverty reduction and that tackling poverty regularly requires targeted programmes, Nigeria’s experience presents an absolute paradox. Both policymakers and private individuals are concerned about the drivers of growth and poverty. It is difficult to understand that an agriculture-driven growth in a country with nearly 60 percent of the labour force employed in the sector should produce such adverse growth and poverty dynamics”.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Local meter manufacturing firm seeks govt’s support

    An indigenous electricity meter manufacturing firm, MOMAS Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited (MEMMCOL), has called for the Federal Government’s intervention in that sector to encourage local production and sustenance of such companies.

    Its Chairman, Mr Kola Balogun, who spoke in Lagos, appealed to the government to stop the importation of meters to boost patronage of local manufactured meters. He also sought financial support from the government not just for his company but all meter manufacturing companies in the country to enable the stay in business and create jobs for Nigerians. He also noted that such support would enhance the growth of small and medium scale enterprises.

    He explained the imperativeness of government’s intervention noting that the inability of local manufacturers to access fund poses a serious challenge to the manufacturing prospects of the country.

    For instance, he noted that MEMMCOL, which is located at Ibafo, Ogun State, has invested over N3 billion on meter manufacturing equipments so as to enhance local production of various types of meters and electrical components and there isn’t appropriate patronage to help keep company well afloat. Government’s support would help local manufacturers improve on their production volumes and quality.

    He said: “I feel it is important that Nigeria should stop importing electricity meters so that we can migrate from importing meters to manufacturing of meters of various types in Nigeria. In MEMMCOL alone, we have a production capacity of 50,000 to 100,000 meters monthly. This excludes productions by other companies in same business.”

    Apart from inability to access funds from the government and money deposit banks to finance the business, inadequate electricity supply had also contributed negatively to the local production, he added. He said his company, which has over N3 billion investments in the sector, was largely supported by the Bank of Industry (BoI).

    “Electricity is a major setback in our company. Since the factory was commissioned, there has not been public electricity supply to the factory. We are basically running on generator. This is one of the major complaints of some of our partners over the years because our equipment is very sensitive machine that requires uninterrupted power supply,” he added.

    He, however, lauded the government for its effort in improving the power supply across the country but urged the government to extend the electricity supply to the factory.

    Balogun said the company commenced production of prepaid meters in October 2012 but shut down in November due to government’s pronouncement of free prepaid meters to Nigerians. “Government’s earlier pronouncement that supply of prepaid metres should be free to PHCN customers affected our production. Our major challenge is that we have not seen a single order for prepaid meters from the sector since then.

    “However, our company is planning to commence full production again because of the reversal of government’s pronouncement and hopefully, there will be a huge demand for meters,” he added.

    He said the company initially had a workforce of over 600 but downsized to about 100 last year due to the PHCN’s inability to procure meters. “Our company has developed ultra modern call centres for Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s (PHCN’s) customers across the country to address customers’ complaints across the 11 PHCN distribution companies in Nigeria. This will give customers better service across the nation because it enables them interface with all the electricity distribution companies.