Before P&G decided to leave Nigeria, some other companies already opted out and according to the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Mr. Ajayi Kadiri, he saw it coming. He also stated that more companies are likely to do the same considering the economic state of the country.
In a statement made by Mr. Kadiri during an interview with ChannelsTV, he stated that unless the underlying issues that led to the departure of P&G are resolved, the country’s manufacturing sector will persist in an unstable state.
He also mentioned that the departure of GSK and P&G conceals the shutdown of numerous local manufacturing companies that have ceased operations recently. These closures, although not widely publicized, occurred despite them being domestic investors and not foreign entities like GSK and P&G.
As the Director General of MAN, Kadiri said the association had received the news of the exit of P&G with sadness, but it is not unexpected and more will happen because they currently operate in a challenging environment. He also made it clear that manufacturing in any community is a strategic choice and the government has to decide if it wants the country to be industrialized.
Still speaking during the interview, Kadiri had advised that since foreign companies like P&G and GSK are exiting, the government should consistently prioritize local manufacturers, reiterating that they lack alternative options or other places to relocate, unlike international firms.
“The big ones that are exiting are those multinationals and I think this should send a clear signal to the government that we need to guide what we promote.” He said.
Kadiri, in concluding his interview, emphasized that prioritizing the empowerment of local manufacturers should take precedence over Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). He stressed that supporting local manufacturing is enduring and enables significant scalability compared to FDI.
