The President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Francis Meshioye, has said that the policies of the federal government in the last one year have made manufacturing businesses unattractive in Nigeria.

Meshioye who stated this in an interview with Channels Television, noted that manufacturers are worse hit by fuel subsidy removal, Naira devaluation, recent electricity tariff hikes, and interest rate hikes in Nigeria.

He lamented that the growth of manufacturing is seemingly not on the front burner of the federal government.

Meshioye explained that the country’s rising headline and food inflation, which stood at 34.19 percent and 40.87 in June, respectively, is majorly affected by food and energy price hikes.

He stressed that Nigeria’s interest rate, which stood at 26.25 percent in May 2024, is a major hindrance to businesses in the country.

“Major contributors to Nigeria’s rising inflation are food and energy. For instance, a tuber of yam showed that Nigerians can no longer afford it. The price moved from about N1000 to N3000. If you look at the electricity tariff cost, it moved from N66 per Kilowatt-hour to N209 per Kilowatt-hour. If you look at the percentage increase, you discover that the country’s inflation rise is not marginal. This has affected the manufacturing business generally.

“Policies that have been implemented in the past twelve months, the fuel subsidy removal, the devaluation of the naira – all these have made manufacturing unattractive,” he said.

He advised that the government must do more to implement policies that are favourable to manufacturers.