Adesina: Power, poor transportation, port facilities killing Nigeria’s manufacturers

The President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, says the lack of stable electricity in Nigeria is killing industries in the country, adding that based on an International Monetary Fund report, about $29bn is lost annually due to poor power supply in Nigeria.

He said this in his lecture titled, ‘Overcoming Binding Constraints to Competitive Manufacturing for Intra-Regional Trade’, which he presented at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Annual Meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

Adesina, Nigeria’s former agriculture minister lamented the low export revenue generated from the manufacturing sector, representing only three per cent of total revenues from export.

“The manufacturing sector of Nigeria represents only three per cent of total revenues from exports, but accounts for 50 per cent of imports in the country.

“Instead of being forward looking in expanding the share of the manufactured goods in its total export revenue, Nigeria focuses on the model of import substitution. Import substitution, while important, is a very restrictive vision.

“It looks towards survival, instead of looking to create wealth through greater export market and value diversification. The end result is a manufacturing sector that cannot develop nor compete globally, but limits itself to “survival mode, not a “global manufacturing growth mode,” he lamented.

According to the AfDB president, it is challenging to be a manufacturer in Nigeria, with one of the major challenges being the very high cost and unreliability of electricity supplies.

Adesina said Nigeria must have a greater ambition for its manufacturing sector by integrating and rapidly moving up global and regional value chains in areas of comparative advantage; by and by driving greater specialization and competitiveness.

He also criticised the country’s apparent policy of limiting access to foreign exchange rather than expanding its forex earnings.