Commerce Association says that more than half of the surviving firms are “ailing”.
At least 800 companies closed shop in Nigeria between 2009 and 2011, due to the harsh operating business environment, the Nigerian Chambers of Commerce has said.
The companies that have survived are also having serious challenges as more than half of them have been classified as “ailing.’’
This was disclosed by the President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Herbert Ajayi, on Tuesday, in Asaba, in a paper he presented at a zonal workshop on economic diversification organised by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC.
Mr. Ajay said the current situation of the “surviving” industries poses a great threat to the survival of the manufacturing industry. He added that capacity utilisation in industries hovers around 30 per cent and 45 per cent on the average, with 100 per cent overhead costs.
He blamed the continued decline in the manufacturing sectors on “political and economic factors’’, citing poor infrastructure and epileptic power supply as key impediments to the industry.
“The manufacturing industry as a whole operates on more than 70 per cent of energy it generates, using generators; and operating these generators greatly increases the cost of manufacturing goods,’’ he said.
