Companies in Nigeria are in the midst of one of the toughest economic turmoil they have ever seen. Some of these guys have never experienced a recession let alone one that is not even allowing them to adapt their businesses. The main culprit of course if forex. it is killing them.
Here is what the CEO of May & Baker, Mr Nnamdi Okafor had to say as captured by Nairametrics.
“Unfortunately, over 98 per cent of raw materials used for vaccine manufacturing locally are being imported also.
And what is happening to importers of finished products is also happening to us (manufacturers). You have heard pronouncement from government that manufacturers are getting some special allocation for forex, which is not happening, I can assure you. We have not been able to bring in our packaging materials into the country because of forex and in fact we are surviving this year is a miracle to most of us.
“I can tell you that we cannot survive this anymore, it is not something we can live with any longer. By the first quarter of next year, most factories that are still standing will begin to shut down operations because the situation with forex is getting worse day by day.
“For the past six months, it has been challenging to cope with manufacturing. It was a bit better in the first half of the year because you could get allocations, may be 20 per cent of your requirements but in the past six months, we have not got anything from the banks on forex.
So what this means is that we have not been able to order for raw materials that normally by now should be sealing into Nigeria for next year.
“As a business, we are now proactively looking at how to handle the situation early next year, but believe me it’s going to be tough. And we are positive that by the first quarter of next year Nigeria will handle the issue of Niger Delta region.”
