Taiwo Hassan 
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has lamented that recent macroeconomic challenges in the country are inhibiting growth and development in the country’s food, beverage and tobacco industry’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Particularly, MAN reported that the sector had been the driver of manufacturing in Nigeria since it accounts for the largest share of contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP. The Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made this known in a chat with New Telegraph in Lagos.
He said that the food and beverage sector was facing turbulent challenges and that there was need for government to come to the sector’s aid following its critical roles to the growth and development of the economy. According to him, challenges such as, high cost of sugar, influx of foreign biscuits into the country and non-exemption of value-added tax for biscuits, removal of dairy raw materials from the National Tarrif List in the 2021 Fiscal Policy guidelines and re-introduction of excise duty on carbonated drinks, influx of banned foreign fruit juice in retail packs into the market are some of the obstacles to growth. Others challenges, according to the MAN DG, are high cost of developing virgin land for rice farming, influx of cheaper and low-quality foreign seasoning into the country, proposed ban by the Federal Government on spirits in pet bottles and sachets, and proposed ban of menthol in cigarettes by SON following the implementation of cigarette standard NIS 463:201.
To him, all these challenges have become burdensome and inherent to food and beverage manufacturers in the country, thus, causing rising cost of production and raw materials for production. Ajayi-Kadir said: “The food and beverage industry plays critical roles in the growth and development of global economies. In recent years, the contribution of the industry to the Nigerian economy has grown relatively in value due to significant domestic and foreign investment backed with strong linkages to the agricultural sector.
“The sector has been the driver of manufacturing in Nigeria considering that it accounts for the largest share of contribution of the manufacturing sector to the Gross Domestic Product. “For instance, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the group contributed 4.09 per cent out of the 8.46 per cent total contribution of the manufacturing sector and 4.47 per cent of the total 8.96 per cent in the third quarter of the year.”
The MAN DG added: “The increasing incidence of new tax heads payable by manufacturing concern has become a major threat to the survival of manufacturing companies in diverse ways and essentially responsible for the prevailing increase in the cost of doing business; reduction in investment inflow and additional pain points on manufacturers.” He, however, noted that MAN had decided to engaged National Agency for Food & Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) over product registration, which is not in line with the provisions of the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Distilleries & Blending of Spirit Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) and NAFDAC. In addition, he stated that DIBAN and NAFDAC also jointly conducted a survey to ascertain the impact of the group’s advocacy aimed at promoting responsible drinking and reducing the number of under-age persons that have access to alcohol. According to him, “MAN presented the comprehensive Status Report on the implementation of the provisions of MoU between DIBAN, NAFDAC, Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to the Honourable Minister of Health.”
