Investors and other stakeholders in the country have said, for Nigeria to become a strategic economic frontier in Sub-Sahara Africa and across the globe, it must have a vibrant manufacturing sector that will spur activities in the stock market.
Some of the investors and stakeholders, who spoke with our correspondent, said if the manufacturing sector of any economy was not recording a significant improvement, the companies operating in the environment would find it difficult to grow and make profit.
Specifically, an independent investor, Tony Ibeh, said, “If the manufacturing sector of any economy is not recording a significant improvement, the share price will drop in the stock market and nobody would come to such market to raise capital because the market cannot support it.”
Ibeh explained that regulators must seek to “provoke more domestic demand in the economy so that the demand can drive supply for consumer companies to make profit and make it cheap for people to borrow, while companies can employ more people, hire and train more workforces.”
A former Secretary General of the Independence Shareholders Association, Adebayo Adeleke, explained that one of the two biggest socio-economic challenges facing the nation is the issue of job creation.
Adeleke argued that Nigeria could not create jobs without having a strong manufacturing base and an industrialised economy.
He wondered why government would subsidise dollar for pilgrimages, while the manufacturing sector that creates job and stimulate economic growth is neglected.
He added that if the processes and procedures involved in the implementation of the industrialisation plan is strengthened, it would spur economic growth, facilitate job creation and reposition Nigeria at a competitive level in international trade.
A capital market operator, Mr. Benjamin Udoh, pointed out that manufactures are facing untold hardship due to harsh operating environment.
Udoh noted that if government failed to revive the sector, more firms’ would be delisted from the exchange.
He said, “We need to get our priorities right in this country, it is true that we are highly religious, a situation where government is subsidising the rate of dollar for people who wants to go on pilgrimage, selling dollar to them at N197 per dollar and then giving about N316-N320 rate to manufacturers is not palatable.
“These are people who keep the engine of business running, employ other people and make them productive, get more products into the system, make life more affordable for everybody. Don’t you think we are getting things essentially wrong?
“Some of these companies cannot just cope, probably the volume of business they are doing is not that large and that is why some of them are delisting, even though some are voluntary. They are facing difficulties and challenges.”
Udoh noted that to reduce the persistent delisting of firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange to the barest minimum, investors stressed the need for government to fast-track the acceleration of its industrialisation plan, adding that this would help to resuscitate the ailing manufacturing industries and other services sector.
