EMEKA OKOROANYANWU
Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) has pledged to partner with government and other stakeholders to ensure a viable manufacturing sector in the country.
MAN’s President, Mansir Ahmed, made the pledge in Kano while presenting a paper at a Round-table organised by the association.
Mansir said the association would continue to engage the services and support of other stakeholders to promote a strong, vibrant and competitive economy.
According to him, if well managed, the manufacturing sector is capable of becoming a key flank of a modern competitive economy.
The paper which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday, read in part: “the association will continue to dialogue with other stakeholders to foster economic growth’’.
“Part of our advocacy strategies is to continuously dialogue with other stakeholders on issues of economic growth policies and strategies at both national and sub-national levels,’’ it said.
Mansir said that MAN was worried at the slow pace of the growth of industrialisation, especially the manufacturing sector, adding, “even more worrisome is the de-industrialization increasingly evident in some states’’.
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“Kano, in particular, has clearly suffered in this regard over the past two decades during which almost half of its thriving manufacturing establishments have shut down.
“Clearly MAN, the government and indeed, all other stakeholders must be concerned, and we must explore all potential strategies to arrest and reverse this de-industrialization process,’’ he said.
Mansir also expressed concern at the increasing Chinese influence on the global economy, especially in the developing countries.
“It’s now common knowledge that China has become the second largest economy in the world, and is rapidly becoming a major factor in the changing global economic order,’’ he said.
Mansir said the desire of the association was to explore how the growing economic relations between Nigeria and China could be used to attract more investments into the manufacturing sector.
According to him, making effective use of the relations will help to reverse the ongoing de-industrialization in the country.
He expressed optimism that MAN’s continued interface with critical stakeholders in the sector would provide valuable insights into Nigeria’s economic growth strategies. (NAN)
