MAN wants land border closure reviewed

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has recommended a review of the land border closure due to the prevailing economic situation.

President of the Association, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, said the government closed the borders for the period due to disregard for protocols by neighbouring countries.

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While he welcomed and commended the bold step, he pointed out that progress has been made on the issue, emphasising that a review on the status of the border closure is pertinent and in line with the core objective of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) protocol.

He said, however, the border closure affected manufacturers. He said rather than selective waiver, all manufacturers should be granted access to the land borders in the interest of the growth and development of the nation’s economy,

“Since the closure, MAN has conducted a research with its members, the outcome is that some sectors had a considerable increase in their productivity, while some sectors recorded a sharp decline. In particular, the Export Group of the Association clearly suffered huge losses.

“Furthermore, the traffic at the seaport as a result of the closure has increased the perennial congestion at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports leading to greater challenges to exporters and increased demurrages cost and other port levies,” he noted.

“The implications of these are that manufacturers in Nigeria have continued to lose and are still losing market share on a daily basis in the West African corridor as export of manufacturers products have now become overly less competitive,” Ahmed lamented.

He said Nigerian firms are losing their place in cement, beverages and other product exports in Africa, saying Nigeria used this to get a strong position in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which kicks off in January 2021.