Yemisi Izuora
The President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Ide John Udeagbala, has lamented the continuous denial of substantial electricity supply to the manufacturing sector to sustain production in the country.
Udeagbala, in a goodwill message at the ‘CICAN Agenda Setting For The Incoming Federal Government Admunistration/Investiture Of New Executive”, complained that the sector has been challenged by multiple taxation, unstable power supply, poor infrastructure, unavailability of forex, high cost of diesel for production, insecunity, etc.
CICAN is the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria, the umbrella body of industry journalists in Nigeria.
According to him, the Nigerian economy is primarily powered by the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, as over 85 per cent of the country’s industrial sector is reliant on the SMEs which embodies the informal sector also.
“As the “Voice of Nigerian Business”, a leading member of the Organized Private Sector (OPS), and the umbrella body for all City, State, and Bilateral Chambers of Commerce in Nigeria, including Business Associations, NACCIMA encourages the incoming Federal Government Administration of CICAN to pay attention to these issues, amongst others, and cooperate with all public and private sector partners to enunciate policies that will foster a private sector-driven economy in Nigeria.
“While we believe that this new administration will do great exploits, exceeding the works of their successors, | would also like to use this opportunity to charge you all to work closely with NACCIMA, as the synergy will be needed to further promote business interests in Nigeria and the global economy at large.” Udeagbala added.
He commended and congratulated the Leaders of the Commerce & Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN), for their ongoing efforts in steering the Association’s activities.
“I also commend the organizing committee for putting together this event and giving me the honor to speak on the expectations of NACCIMA from the new administration for the Organized Private Sector. It serves as proof of your effort to see that the Organized Private Sector thrives positively.
“The CICAN is vested with the responsibilty of analyzing and reporting the country’s Real sector and health of the Smali and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. It is therefore important that these responsibilities are carned out independently ~ void of bias and segregation. It is no longer news that there are challenges that the SME’s face, most of which are often ignored and consequently affect the productivity of these enterprises with adverse impact on the country’s GDP.” Udeagbala concluded.
