The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has cried out that investments are being lost as a result of the continued poor power supply across the country.
MAN explained that a situation where the country had been managing between 2,500 and 4,000 megawatts would only have a negative impact on the manufacturing sector.
The Chairman of MAN, Rivers and Bayelsa State Chapter, Senator Adawari Pepple, stated that if the situation did not get better, Nigeria might continue to lose investors to a country like Ghana, where the power sector had improved tremendously.
Pepple, who spoke with our correspondent in a telephone interview on Wednesday, pointed out that no business could thrive relying on electricity from generator.
He noted that when companies shut down due to constant power outages, the country’s rate of unemployment would only worsen.
“The continuous power outage is impacting negatively on investments because manufacturers are feeling the pains. There must be constant power supply for any business to thrive.
“A lot of companies and small businesses are shutting down and moving to Ghana, where there is adequate electricity supply. There is no way any business can be run successfully without regular electricity supply. The manufacturing sector is the leading employer of labour.
“If investments are shutting down, the fact is that the rate of unemployment will be high; there will be youth restiveness and crime rate will also increase,” Pepple stated.
The MAN boss, however, called on the government to tackle the challenges facing the power sector so that the Nigerians, including manufacturers, would begin to enjoy adequate electricity that would help their business.
“Currently, we as a country are not even there as far as the power sector is concerned. There is need for government to tackle this problem. If there is enough power supply, Port Harcourt and Bayelsa will be booming.
“Assuming the power sector is working optimally; the manufacturers will produce their goods and will employ more hands. This will reduce youth restiveness and crime,” Pepple said.
