M& B boss decries impact of insecurity, FX scarcity on local manufacturing

THE Managing Director of ernment agencies is getting May & Baker Nigeria Plc, too much. T o send products Patrick Ajah, has linked the from Lagos to the North, the poor capacity utilisation in the checkpoints are enormous countr y to scarcity of foreign with police harassment, ease exchange ( FX), insecurity and of doing business is the worst multiple taxation. in this country. Even our cus

Speaking at the company’s tomers are ha ving similar Customers’ Forum in Lagos, challenges”.

Ajah called on the government While commending the custo urgently address the chaltomers, Ajah said the compalenges and other unfriendly ny would work harder to suppolicies affecting the ease of port them in 2023 to sustain doing business. the partnership and impact

“Companies like us import and grow their businesses. most of our raw materials. To He disclosed that the organiimport these materi als, we sation targets to deliver N20 need forex. Before 2016, compabillion in revenue in 2023 nies never worried about forex, financial year. but these days, we don’t get “As expected, we h ave set ourforex and if we do not get forex, selves a higher target for 2023, it would be difficult to bring in which is to deliver a revenue of products,” he said. N20 billion. This is a milestone The pharmacist said a stable target, and we know that with exchange rate and a vailability your help, it is achievable. are necessary for proper plan“To give ourselves a greater ning. chance of meeting this target,

He lamented the inconsistenwe recently made some cy in duty, noting: “These days changes in our field manageyou don’t know the duties you ment structure to ensure a are paying because new people better focus of our national keep bringing up new policies. and district sales managers, The government needs to sit and I am sure we have already down and understand the started seeing the difference. problem manufacturing com“We have also made some panies are having. Many cominvestments in acquiring new panies are going down with machines and machine parts the challenges in the economy. to beef up our capacity to pro“The government needs to pay duce more to meet the grow - attention to the problems ing needs of our products in companies are ha ving, espethe marketplace. We are also cially in the area of forex, ease in the process of launching of doing business, and harasssome new products to further ment from government agenenrich our portfolio. cies. The harassment from gov