By Louis Ibah
Managing Director, Erisco Foods Limited, Mr. Nnamdi Umeofia, has appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in the allocation of foreign exchange (forex) and loans to local manufacturers saying this remains the surest way of resuscitating the ailing Nigerian economy in the shortest possible time.
He spoke when the Army War College Course 6/2022 conducted an environment tour of the company’s manufacturing plant in Oregun, Lagos.
Umeofia lamented the harsh operating environment faced by local manufacturers alleging a cabal aided by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were out to strangulate the local manufacturing industry given their support for the importation of substandard products.
“We have a stock of goods worth over N4 billion for about nine months which we have been finding it hard to sell due to the high cost of production and the flooding of our markets with imported substandard tomato paste by import cabals with the support of our forex. Erisco has been seeking it’s products at a loss for about nine months now due to the high rate at which imported banned tomato paste in retail packs has flooded our markets for over three years despite NAFDAC’s report that 91.1 per cent of the imported tomato paste are substandard.”
Umeofia said the Erisco Group has been supporting its Nigerian affiliate for the past three years with proceeds from its foreign business operations warning it might shut down the Nigerian operation if government continues to refuse to support genuine manufacturers.
“The CBN has put its trust in deceitful companies who are actually the import cabals of substandard tomato paste and other food items that can be produced locally and even better. The cabal is believed to be using paper documentation to manipulate our government as foreign investors in conspiracy with their Nigerian cronies.”