THE Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), on Friday called on the Federal Government to be more inclined to creating enabling environment for private sector to thrive.

Dr Frank Jacobs, President, (MAN), made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

Jacobs said that while the private sector was at the forefront of driving economic growth, it needed an enabling environment to function properly.

“This means providing the necessary basic infrastructure to ensure that the macroeconomic environment is suitable for the business to thrive,” he said.

Jacobs proposed that business success determining parameters such as exchange rates, interest rates, taxation and ease of doing business should be addressed to encourage investments both foreign and local.

“Should all these parameters be met, an enabling environment for business to thrive is automatic,” Jacobs said.

The MAN chief also urged the Federal Government to intervene in the ongoing debt disagreements between the DISCOs and manufacturers to enable them access the stranded 2, 000 mega watts of electricity.

He said that the condition given by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was impossible to achieve because of the size of the debt.

“Some of the challenges we have with taking advantage of the stranded 2, 000 mega watts of power is that the NERC has continued to insist that MAN members and consumers clear off outstanding debts to the DISCOs.

“However, there have been disagreements on how much is really involved and that has not been resolved to date.

“The figures reeled out by the DISCOs are too high when compared with what our members claimed they owed.

“A consensus was reached by the DISCOs and MAN to approach the government to see what can be done to enable manufacturers take advantage of the stranded power.

“It would be a credit to the government if they can intervene and the stranded power becomes utilised,” he said. (NAN)

– Aug. 3, 2018 @ 12:55 GMT |