The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) says a total of 3,567 jobs were lost in the sector in the first six months of 2023.
This was contained in the association’s recently released ‘Half Yearly Review of the Economy (January – June 2023)’.
This represents an increase of 1,855 in job losses in the sector over one year, compared to the 1,709 jobs that were lost in the same period in 2022, .
The figure also represents an increase of 805 job losses when compared with the 2,708 jobs that were lost in the preceding half of the report that is from July to December 2022.
The association blamed the situation on the unfriendly business environment and a slew of hastily implemented policies such as the naira redesign that caused the scarcity of notes in the first quarter of the year.
“The decline in the number of jobs created in the sector during the period further highlighted the unfriendly business environment resulting from the hasty policies and residual effect of the currency redesign policy that led to naira crunch,” the report showed.
The report further indicated that there was a decrease in capacity utilisation, dropping to 56.5 per cent compared to the 57 per cent recorded during the same period in 2022. Additionally, the cost of funds for manufacturers increased to 24 per cent from the previous 22 per cent in the latter half of 2022.
“The continuous upward adjustments significantly influence the lending rates offered by commercial banks to industries in the Monetary Policy Rate,” MAN said.
The association said it was imperative that the challenges in the manufacturing sector be promptly and effectively addressed, noting that the sector urgently requires measures to mitigate the adverse effects of these policies and restore its growth trajectory.
