23rd January, 2014
Simon Ateba/Lagos
Nigeria is losing billions of naira and thousands of jobs every year to foreign companies which are given waivers by the Federal Government to import into Nigeria finished products already manufactured in the country, an industrialist, Hasib Moukarim, said.
Moukarim, the Managing Director of Nigeria Gas and Steel Limited and a member of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, was reacting to a statement credited to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Alhaji Diko Inde Abdulahi, that the Customs Service intends to generate the sum of N1.2 trillion in 2014.
The industrialist, whose family founded Mouka Foam in the 1970s, said while he welcomes the announcement, it may remain a pipe dream if the issue of waiver and concession given to importers of finished products is not stopped as this is depleting the Federal coffers while enriching a few companies abroad.
He said for the Customs Service to achieve their targets, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office and the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment must cooprate fully.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, often champions and defends the interests of local manufacturers against government unfavourable policies or unfair competition from foreign companies.
“When finished goods are brought into the country duty free, we are directly creating employment for foreign workers of the foreign company because such goods imported with waivers will become cheaper than the locally produced goods and this will escalate the demand and sales of the foreign manufacturers,” Moukarim said.
He said by giving waivers to foreign companies, locally produced goods become more expensive and demand for them shrinks.
This, he said, threatens the survival of Nigerian-based companies and leads to retrenchment.
“This type of scenario has forced many companies to retrench substantial percentage of work forces with the consequence of worsening the unemployment situation,” he said.
Moukarim suggested that for waiver or concession to be given to any applicant, thorough investigations must be carried out by the Federal ministries of Finance as well as Trade and Investment to verify the authenticity of the items being brought in at virtually no cost.
“The relevant sector of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, should be contacted for their expert opinion on the issue. Also professionals like Quantity Surveyors and Civil Engineers should be contacted for their expert opinion to determine the actual materials needed for the project in question,” Moukarim said.
He advised that waivers or concession should not be on imported goods that have local substitute that are produced in Nigeria.
“If all the stakeholders in the economy are ready to cooperate fully with the Customs Service, it is my candid opinion that they could surpass their projected revenue, otherwise their projections may be wishful thinking,” Moukarim said.
Nigerian manufacturers had complained in the past that Chinese companies have been abusing waivers by importing more than what is needed for their projects and flooding the markets with the surplus, thereby killing local manufacturers.
Chinese companies have been obtaining series of waivers from the Federal Government to build airports, roads and other projects, but end up importing more products than they need, the manufacturers say.