Taiwo Hassan 
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that it takes a good entrepreneur, with a strong foresight and leadership skills to thrive in the private sector in the current operating environment in the country.
The Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, in an interview with New Telegraph in Lagos, stated that any manufacturing company still standing tall and in operation at this moment deserved to be commended for overcoming the challenges propped up by monetary and fiscal policies.
Ajayi-Kadir emphasised that there was no doubt that government’s fiscal and monetary policies, including harsh regulations by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA), had invariably taken huge toll on the manufacturing sector’s performance.
According to him, for a manufacturing firm to navigate through those turbulent macroeconomic headwinds, there is need for a strong advocacy platform to collaborate with government, so that the manufacturing sector would be placed where it should be in the country. The MAN boss emphasised that what local manufacturers are yearning for were supportive policies that will aid the country’s industrial sector’s growth in all ramifications.
While mentioning FAE Limited, which celebrated it’s 50 years anniversary in the country recently, Ajayi-Kadir said not every firm was lucky to be operating in Nigeria for 50 years and still producing till today.
The MAN DG noted: “I think what it takes to be operating in such an environment like this; is a demonstration of the fact, that it does not only take a good entrepreneur, it takes a system, a strong system that have institutions, that have leaders that are responsible, that have leaders that have foresight to be able to demonstrate the leadership that is required for the private sector to thrive.
“So, I think the environment in which we have operated was eloquently illustrated by the keynote speaker that we have not had the microeconomics and infrastructure support that are needed for growth in Nigeria. And I think in redefining what the next 50 years means for FAE Limited, we need to start to look for an advocacy platform that would be able to engage and even collaborate with government, so that we would be placed Nigerian manufacturing sector where it should be.
“We now have AfCFTA that gives us the opportunity to compete around the African continent. But if we are not competitive, and we cannot grow the sector within the country, your guess is as good as mine as to the millage in terms of market access that we should be able to enjoy. “So, I believe it’s a sector that has good growth prospects, but it needs supportive policies that would aid it’s growth in all ramifications.”
