.Imported vehicles and trucks inside Five Star Logistics terminal, at TinCan Island port, Lagos
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has charged the Federal Government to link the automobile sector with the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to ensure efficiency in the sector.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos, the President of MAN, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, also said that since the introduction of the automobile policy, there have been some new investments in the sector.
Mansur, also called for consistency on the side of the government on policies that will boost the sector saying that with consistent policy, the sector will do well, adding that the sector should be encouraged to start manufacturing some of the inputs of the automobile industry.
“I think if you recall that since the introduction of the automobile policy, there have been some new investments in that sector, so to that extent we will say that since the intention was to open up and encourage investment in the sector that obviously has worked. I believe that with time and consistency in terms of the policy, it will work. For instance, the incentives that are now given to the sector in term of the imports of the components and the spare parts and all that. Secondly, I think we also need to link that sector with the Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) sector and encourage that sector to begin to produce some of the inputs to the automobile industry”
Explaining further, he blamed lack of consistency of government policies as a major factor that led to the death of some secondary industries that were coming up in the sector years back, he stressed that it is the responsibility of the government to help the sector to grow.
“You know many years ago, we had a very robust automotive sector and some secondary industry was beginning to grow people producing batteries, plastics and all that. But unfortunately again due to lack of consistency the sector collapsed so now we are going to build it again and revive it. I believe that we must know that consistency in government and helping the sector to grow is absolutely vital and that is part of the government’s responsibility. I was speaking to a colleague I read a statement with Ghanaian government about their new taxes and clearly what Ghana is doing is helping their industries to grow. If we don’t help our industries, whatever revenue we make from all sorts of taxation will not go far because we will spend the money in importing what we are not producing. So the key really is to invest back in the industry to grow because the revenue the government collects from taxing the industries is much high than the revenue government can make from levies and taxes from at a lower level. So our
expectation is that as we go forward and as we follow the current industrialization policy”
The MAN boss also expressed satisfaction with the Economic and Recovery Growth Plan(ERGP) of the government, saying that he is pleased with the way the plan is being operated.
“In this Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP), actually the way that plan is being operated makes a lot of sense because apart from the overall policies they are also looking at some specific sectors and introducing clinics for each particular industry, to ensure that what the industry needs to grow and prosper is actually being provided. So what expect is consistency and continuity of policies to ensure that we nurture the industries to attain where they are able to stand firm and be very competitive” he concluded.
