ABUJA, SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 – The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on Thursday urged its members to apply best manufacturing practice that would encourage Nigerians to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods.The MAN President, Mr Frank Jacobs, said in Abuja that product packaging was a major fundamental that should be improved upon.
Jacobs said most buyers looked out for products with good aesthetic presentation.
He urged manufacturers to also adopt better marketing strategies to attract greater patronage.
“Our manufacturers need to find local alternatives for their imported raw materials as it remains a major challenge confronting them.
“In this direction, the adoption of resource-based industrialisation by the Federal Government, which MAN has been championing, should be quickly keyed into.
“The issue of research and development should also be taken seriously by manufacturers because of the need to improve product innovation and productivity,’’ the MAN boss said.
He added, however, that utilising commercialised research efforts was a big challenge because majority of manufacturers belonged to the small scale category.
“Where necessary, mergers should be encouraged as a way of reducing costs in the areas of research and raw materials acquisition,’’ Jacobs said.
He urged the Federal Government to assist manufacturers by empowering research institutes and agencies to become more effective.
The MAN boss said he was aware that improving products quality was a challenging issue because Nigeria was a high cost environment.
He identified infrastructure, multiple taxation, foreign exchange scarcity and high interest rate as challenges facing Nigerian manufacturers.
According to Jacobs, these add to the high cost of production environment Nigerian manufacturers were facing.
He urged manufacturers to improve their management and production efficiency to reduce the cost of production.
“This is important in order to reduce the price of products. They should imbibe good corporate governance.’’
