The Chairman of Spectra Industries Limited, Chief Duro Kuteyi, has urged the federal government to reduce interest rates for manufacturers operating in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector to five percent to enable them expand their businesses.
The industrialist disclosed this in Lagos when he received the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, who was on a working visit to the head office of Spectra Industries Limited, in Agege, Lagos, one of the government-approved incubation centres in the country.
Daily Trust reports that the company produces beverages, sorghum and soya flour, among others.
The Spectra boss lamented that many promising businesses were being confronted with lack of funds to sustain and expand their operations.
He urged the federal government to assist manufacturers with loans at five percent interest rate, adding that reducing taxes for manufacturers operating in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector would also increase production capacity and boost the national economy.
Chief Kuteyi said manufacturers were yet to get patronage directly from the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as many preferred to go through contractors, who often inflated the prices of the products they got from the manufacturers.
“It is not wholesome to charge the Small and Medium Enterprises the same tax being charged the multinationals. We, in the SMEs sector, could do more if we get government’s assistance in the area of funding.
“It is not enough for government to say they are giving loans to entrepreneurs at one-digit rate of nine percent, it should be brought to five percent,” Chief Kuteyi said.
Also speaking, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, charged manufacturers in the country to produce quality products which can compete with their counterparts globally for exports.
Dr. Onu, who inspected the production lines of the company, said Nigerian manufacturers were already using reversed technology in processing farm produce to finished products, which could be exported to boost the nation’s economy.
“I took the decision to visit here personally. It is to see the success we have recorded in Nigeria. With what I have seen here, I am convinced that Nigeria is ready to hit the global market with quality and standard products.
“I am using this occasion to call on other industrialists across the country to produce products that could compete not only in the sub-Saharan Africa but at a global level.
Dr. Onu urged Nigerian manufacturers to make use of the technology incubation centres spread across the country, saying the era of having their products taken abroad for analysis and certification was gone, as this could now be done at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Lagos.
Also speaking during the visit, the executive director, Spectra Industries Limited, Mrs Oluremi Kuteyi, said the company had continuously provided food products which are beneficial for good health and wellness of the consumers.
She tasked the government to assist manufacturers by making pre-fabricated packaging machines available for production through the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure.
She noted that some of the machines being used in the factory of Spectra Industries Limited were fabricated by the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun state.
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