The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN Tuesday warned the Federal Government not to follow the road map leading to the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
MAN also recommended that the entire negotiation process be subjected to a complete review.
Making their position known to the European Union delegation led by the EU Ambassador, David Mcrae, at a seminar on the EPA, President of MAN, Kola Jamodu, stated that their position was reached based on the observations on the potential threats of EPA to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
According to Jamodu, "In order to positively impact on the Nigerian economy, the EPA should be repositioned to facilitate the resolution of supply-side constraints facing the competitive production of goods and services. The capacities of domestic manufacturing and processing sectors should be strengthened to avoid regression and to give a fillip to the competitiveness of the productive sector."
He noted that the net effect of EPA will deepen de-industrialisation process in Nigeria and ECOWAS because unbridled imports will lead to a shut down of the few surviving industries, with consequent catastrophic implications for labour shaving and entrenched poverty.
He said that unemployment will increase as firms lay off staff/shut-down operation due to poor sales and lack of competitiveness of local products. Nigerian manufacturers cannot compete with imported products because of obvious infrastructure deficiency and other unfriendly operating environment.
He explained that if ECOWAS and other regional groups in Africa are made to liberalise their economies at a faster pace and not in line with their own poverty and development plans, the outcome would further constrain regional cooperation and throw away all benefits associated with regional integration.
"In particular, the industrial sector is conservative and insignificant by global standards. In its Industrial Development Report for 2002 - 2003, UNIDO reported that the contribution of the manufacturing sector to ECOWAS GDP averages less than 10 per cent and that its share of global value added was estimated at about 0.1 per cent. More than half of the manufacturing companies in ECOWAS operate below 50 per cent of their installed capacities."
The manufacturers therefore further recommended that Government should take urgent steps to improve the business environment, especially on factors that impact on market infrastructure, transportation and communication transaction costs, supply capacity and productivity; energy and market entry conditions.
They also called for a sector-based analysis to be carried out to evaluate the specific impact on each sector in order to determine the right liberalisation schedules that would not affect Nigeria 's development objectives.
MAN argued that given the low level of industrial development and the weak manufacturing base in the region, unrestricted access of imports from EU will certainly slow the pace of industrial development and therefore socio-economic development in Nigeria and ECOWAS.
"With its more advanced industries and technology, more competitive European Union imports will surely displace local production in Nigeria and ECOWAS thereby leading to plant closures and worsening of the employment situation and resultant deepened poverty.
"In fact, no ECOWAS country has a strong industrial sector at present that can withstand the tornado of global competition including challenges of EPA promoted by EU," Jamodu said.
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NIGERIA BORROWING AT 15 0/0 AND SAVING AT 3 0/0 INTEREST RATE – NO WAY TO MAKING HEADWAY WITH MISANTHROPISTS OKONJO IWEALA, IMF, WORLD BANK ECONOMIC POLICIES According to recent figure released by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the nation’s external reserve now stands at US$42.67 billion but with an immediate highly alarming and embarrassing follow up announcement by Dr. Okonjo Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister that Nigeria was going to borrow US $ 9.3 billion between 2012-2014 to develop infrastructures et al The fact not openly disclosed by Dr. Okonjo –Iweala is that the US$ 42.67 billion saved by Nigeria in the Western Economy will only earn 3 percent interest rate whilst the debt owed by the Nigeria to the same Western nation Creditors will be carry 15 percent interest annual rate. This to serious minded nationalists must sound worrisome drawing one into a logical reasoning on why must we save to earn only 3 percent interest rate and at the same time borrow from the same market at awful 15 percent interest rate. It becomes totally unexplainable that since it was this same Dr. Okonjo –Iweala as Finance Minister during Olusegun Obasanjo era that ensured the payment of almost all of Nigeria’s debts to the Western Creditors therefore leaving one in total bewilderment on why the nation must again be unreasonably mounting up foreign debts under the same Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. It also portrays an economic nonsense seeing the nation’s annual budgeting premised on mono – cultured oil earning bench mark rather than aggregate earnings from industrial, agricultural, finance, mining et al. If the nation must seriously escape our sovereignty mortgaging the future of our children tied up by misanthropists to debt trap and eternal slavery of the IMF, World Bank and Western creditors, it was high time we wake up as a nation to the reality of the fact that we can not go on borrowing at 15 percent interest rate and saving at 3 percent interest rate and expect to make headway economically and productively. Dr. Olapade Agoro (Aladura Patriarch) Owa’Tapa of Itapa Ijesaland National Chairman/ former Presidential Candidate, National Action Council (NAC)
olapadeagoro2002, What has your political agenda against Dr Okonjo Iweala got to do with this very important subject of EPA by the EU trying to recolonize Africa again through the back door? This issue is so important because it could collapse not just Nigeria's economy,but can return many currently booming African countries economies to depend again on Europe with its attendant historical consequences of such a situation. In the light of the seriousness of this subject, your senseless and futile war on Dr. Iweala for whatever hidden agenda you harbor is misplaced and very offensive here. Please find other subjects to continue your attacks,leave serious subjects like the EU sponsored Economic partnership Agreement for Africa to serious minded people.