Soaring exchange rate affecting Nigeria’s construction industry – FOCI president

The president-elect of the Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI), Chief Vincent Barrah, has decried the free fall of the Naira against other currencies, saying it has made the purchase of construction equipment a nightmare.

He stated this in Abuja recently during the 66th Annual General Meeting of FOCI, where he was elected.

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“This situation, therefore, affects the fate of construction projects and activities in the country, critically disrupting contract execution, cash flows and the economics of job creation tied to these ongoing projects,” he said.

He also said the current allowance for Variation of Prices of five per cent for ongoing projects was meaningless in the face the hyperinflation.

Barrah said his administration would work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to build on the achievements of his predecessor.

Also, the outgoing president of FOCI, Engr Nasiru Dantata, said training artisans in the sector would reduce the need to employ labour from outside the country.

He said the construction sector had been beset with poor requisite skills and competencies by artisans to execute jobs in the sector.

Dantata said FOCI, as part of efforts to bridge the gap, established a skills academy in Abuja and had been partnering stakeholders to train artisans in latest skills so as to acquire the competencies to take up jobs in the sector.

“We will continue to support the training of artisans in the industry. What this does is that it reduces the need to employ labour, because as a country of more than 200 million estimated population, there’s no reason to import basic labour that we can train locally. So, our member companies are concentrating on doing that.

“We’ll continue to provide the infrastructure that is long-lasting to Nigeria that you need little to repair and that will last long,” he added.

FOCI is an umbrella body for construction and engineering companies in Nigeria.