MAN DG Laments Situation As Procter & Gamble Quits Nigeria
…implications are daring
Several Millions of Indirect jobs are leaving Nigerian hands and about 6000 direct jobs will be affected with the exit of Procter & Gamble from Nigeria. This is because the lines of production of the company are many. If one has to follow the production value chain down to the consumers the implications are grievous on the social economic situation of Nigerians.
Some notable lines of production are Venus, Razor Beauty Baby Care, Home Care Fabric Care Personal Care products and Personal Health. The production of the popular Ariel detergent, Laundry products, and Pampers just to mention a few would be stopped. Many Nigerians engage in marketing some of these products as a source of livelihood. But these opportunities are now gone.
Reacting to this situation, the Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said he regretted the exit of multinational consumer goods manufacturer, Procter & Gamble from Nigeria, saying that more manufacturers may follow suit.
He said until the Federal Government takes clear redefined measures to address challenges facing manufacturers in the country, more exits will happen in the manufacturing sector.
“Obviously, we received it (P&G exit) with sadness but it is not totally unexpected and more may happen because there is no doubt that we operate in an environment that is challenged,” Ajayi-Kadir said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.
“Manufacturing in any economy is a strategic choice, the government has to make up its mind whether it wants its country to be an industrialised one. Once that decision is taken, you have to do all that is needed to remove the binding constraints that limits the performance of that sector, Nigeria has not done so and that is why you can see there are closures.
“I think it is news because it is Procter and Gamble, it is news because it is GlaxoSmithKline, it is news because they have been in the country for a very long time, but there are several others that have died quietly and for reasons that are clearly avoidable.”
The MAN director general, however, said that the exit of multinationals from the country should serve as a lesson to the government, adding that it provides opportunity to promote local manufacturers more that foreign investors as that is more enduring.
“I think there is a strong lesson to be learnt there which is the fact that the big ones that are exiting are those multinationals and I think this will send a clear signal to government that regrettable as it is, it should guide future actions, we need to be strategic in what we promote.
“So, this means that if you have a challenged local manufacturer, he is not likely to go anywhere. That is why we are saying that foreign direct investment is excellent, it has led to phenomenal improvement in the performance of the manufacturing sector for so many economies but it should come secondary to empowering the local investor, the existing manufacturers because that is what is enduring.
“So, it is regrettable, it is not unexpected, and I think except we take clear redefined measures, many more will happen,” he said.