Follow Us on Google
By Merit Ibe
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed concern over insecurity, forex scarcity, unemployment and double-digit inflation, which can disrupt the growth prospects of the economy.
The Director General, Chinyere Almona, who made the remark at a media parley, urged that ongoing reforms by the government should be concluded on good notes to improve the Ease of Doing business in Nigeria, adding that the vaccination programme should also be improved on with the provision of more vaccines.
Almona noted that the wave of insecurity is already a critical factor driving up inflation rate.
“We expect more to be done in attending to the perennial problems that have bedevilled businesses in Nigeria like power supply, access to cheap finance, forex scarcity, and high rate of inflation.”
Optimistic that the growth prospects are high, she lamented that they could be disrupted by insecurity, logistics challenges, difficulties in sourcing forex, saying more attention should be paid to the growth and job-rich sectors like agriculture, construction, trade, entertainment and technology.
Citing the Global Ranking on Peace and Economic Impact of Violence by the Institute of Economics and Peace, the LCCI boss said:
“Globally, the consequences of violence amount to considerable direct and indirect costs that erode economic development, increase instability, increase inequality and erode human capital.”
“With the worsening security challenges, the director general noted that production will shrink as the bases come under siege, supply chains are disrupted leading to scarcity of goods in the market and foreign investors are not interested in bringing in FDIs to Nigeria.
On forex squeeze, she noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has consistently tried to boost supply of forex to make the market liquid, blaming the shortage of the dollars for the freefall of the Naira.
“But we have a case where the supply of forex does not meet the demand and this has put persistent pressures on the Naira leading to its weak position against major currencies. “Many businesses now source their forex needs from parallel markets at above N525/$ and we need to boost the supply side of the forex market through more inflows from exports, diaspora remittances and crude revenues.”
For businesses to thrive in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Almona tasked government to create an enabling environment by curbing the menace of insecurity that has made it difficult for businesses to access raw materials for production.”
According to her, “If our MSMEs produce at higher costs, their products will not compete well at the international markets.”
She also tasked the government to set aside dedicated funding for targeted sectors “where MSMEs operate to empower them to scale up to meet international standards.
“Government must establish more MSME hubs, particularly high employment sectors such as textile, agribusiness, and entertainment, to drive industrialisation.”
