Anambra State Governor Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has committed to partner with Manufacturers in the state to unlock its industrial potential.
He gave the assurance during his interaction with manufacturers, captains of industry and business leaders at a townhall meeting organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States branch at Dozzy Crescent, Habour Industrial Layout, Onitsha at the weekend.
Speaking in a well articulated speech titled “Unlocking the Economic Potential of the South East through guided investment in critical areas that affect manufacturing” the chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, South East Zone, Lady Ada Chukwudozie, highlighted the various problems and challenges confronting and impeding manufacturers in Nigeria with particular emphasis on South East Nigeria.
“In Nigeria, Manufacturers face a lot of challenges which are embedded in its value chain and basic factors of production (Land /Natural Resources, Labour, Capital, Consumers, Government, Technology and Entrepreneurship) which in turn has to do with the ease of doing business in an environment. But the most critical being high cost and the unsteady supply and the high cost of power as most manufacturers depend on the grid and diesel generators.
This accounts for almost 50 percent of the cost of production in the eastern zone. But in the South-East, especially ANAMBRA state, manufacturers are bedeviled by even harsher economic conditions than its counterparts in other regions” Lady Chukwudozie said.
She also raised concerns over multiple taxations on manufacturers and decried the activities of touts and the increasing numbers of checkpoints and roadblocks in the state especially at the border points of entry from Asaba and exit from Onitsha and called for immediate intervention of the government to enhance ease of doing business and ameliorate the burdens manufacturers are facing in an already stiff and very harsh economic environment.
She further called on the Anambra State government to look into very critical areas of investment such as power generation, railway, river ports, road infrastructure and security among others. She commended the efforts and intervention of Governor Soludo in some of these areas of concerns, describing his intervention as brilliant, proactive and timely.