The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said the high cost of electricity in the country is one major reason manufacturers in the country cannot compete globally.
According to the association, about 45 per cent of the production cost of manufacturers in Nigeria is spent on electricity and this has made them uncompetitive within and beyond Africa.
Speaking on behalf of Nigerian manufacturers at the event, The Chairman, Infrastructure Committee, MAN, Ibrahim Usman, stated this in Abuja at the inauguration of the National Clean Energy Skills Certification for Young Professionals by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
The certification was financed by the European Union and the German Government within the framework of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme.
Usman said “In other countries manufacturing is very competitive and you cannot succeed in it if your production cost is not down.
“This is very vital for Nigeria now, considering the African Continental Free Trade Area. We want our goods to be competitive. We want our prices to be right.
“But they cannot be right when the electricity cost for the manufacturing sector in other countries is a maximum of 10 per cent whereas here it is 35 to 45 per cent. So we are already backwards.”
Usman, who is also the Board Chairman, Manufacturers Power Development Company Limited, however, expressed hopes that the clean energy skills programme would assist in improving the country’s power sector as this would impact positively on production.
